Dirge of Symphonia
by Rena Chan
Summary: An age-old, sealed entity has awakened after sleeping for thousands of years and now threatens the very life of Symphonia. The world's only hope of survival lies within the power of a high summoner. *Updated with Chapter 6*
1. The Last High Summoner

**Dirge of Symphonia**

**Written by Rena Chan  
5659 words **

* * *

**Chapter 1 - The Last High Summoner**

_"This child will face a lot of trials and hardships. He will make mistakes, he will stumble and fall, but he will not give up. He is strong of heart and will learn many things. And through all that, he will, one day, save and protect this world." _

_Tch. Even though I said that, the future is not set in stone. So what is the point of having the power to see the future? The world has already gone through two life-threatening crisis, but it was not him that saved it. He did have a hand in it...but it really doesn't count. And now... He is just wandering aimlessly... _

_But... What is this terrible feeling I'm having? Why is it I feel that something, even greater than anything I've ever seen, is going to happen? Something that not even the Eternal Swordsman can defeat? _

_I'm feeling an imbalance of power... He couldn't possibly have awakened...could he?_

OoOoOoO

_We are the last of the Angels of Cruxis, spending what most likely would be eternity on Derris-Kharlan, floating around in space, orbiting around Symphonia, out of reach of normal communication and the power of the Eternal Sword. "If a half-elf of Cruxis remains here, then the discrimination against half-elves will never disappear." is what he said. I'm here on Derris-Kharlan not because I agree with him, but rather, because he is my best friend. The only real friend I have left. The only person alive that I care about. Besides, there is nothing left for me to do on the surface. The two worlds have been reunited and a new World Tree has been born. _

_And the name of the new World Tree? Yggdrasill. The name given by the Eternal Swordsman, the one who awakened the Great Seed, Lloyd Irving. Why did he name the tree as such? Kratos says it's in memory of Mithos and Martel Yggdrasill. Afterall, they were half-elves, people that were caught in-between all this mess. They had tried to end not only the Kharlan War, but also discrimination. When Martel had died, Mithos lost himself, and tried to rid the world of discrimination in the wrong way, something that I knew Martel will never agree to. And everything kind of went downhill from there, until about two months ago, when the two worlds were reunited and a new World Tree was born. _

_But I have to agree. This name is quite fitting. Afterall, this new tree is the symbol that represents all life, every single life that exists on Symphonia. It is also a reminder that half-elves are people too. _

_Hopefully, once the World Tree is fully grown and the world is filled with mana once again, a war won't start again. Mistakes of the past must never be repeated. Not only that, I truly hope that discrimination against half-elves will also end. It might take a while, but I know that it's possible. Afterall, by best friend is a human, and I'm a half-elf. Too bad when it does happen, I won't be there to see it._

Yuan sighed. He was doing nothing but starting at the huge computer monitor in-front of him. It was doing a mana reading of the World Tree that was back on the world of Symphonia. The computer was just starting to do its work, but Yuan wasn't expecting the readings to be any different from any of the previous readings he had taken. They were always normal every single time. Yuan muttered some stuff to himself and decided to lie back on the chair he was sitting on, stretching his arms.

That was until he heard an explosion, and something shattering.

"Dammit! Why is that stupid spell so hard to cast?"

"Because you and the ice element don't mix."

"Very funny, Aska."

"It's been proven to be true many times over."

"Even if you say so, it's a spirit magic, I'm supposed to be able to cast it!"

"Even then, if an element and a high summoner don't mix, it's not easy to cast the spirit magic of that element."

"But it's not impossible."

"Yes, it's not impossible, just very hard to do."

"Having fun blowing things up with your failure to cast a certain magic spell?"

Both Kratos and Aska turned to look at the person that had entered their conversation. Yuan had dragged himself from wherever he was previously and was now leaning at the doorway with his arms crossed looking at the both of them. Kratos turned to take a look around the room, then turned back to face the half-elf.

"I think something might have gotten frozen somewhere..."

Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" Then he noticed a frozen piece of machinery. Then he frowned. "You know, Kratos Aurion, I simply cannot understand why you can't do this somewhere else instead. There are stuff around there that I want to fix up and reactivate, and I really can't have you destroying them."

"Well, fine," Kratos muttered in reply. "I'll go down to Welgaia. Happy?" With that, Kratos strode past Yuan and walked out of the room.

Aska, who was in his smaller than usual form, followed behind the retreating Kratos. But, before the summon spirit flew past him, Aska paused and looked at the half-elf.

"I'm sure you know very well why Kratos doesn't want to go down to Welgaia." With that, the Summon Spirit of Light went on his way.

Yuan had no reply to that. "I know...but..." Yuan muttered to himself. Then he slid down the doorway and sat on the floor, crossed his arms and put his forehead on them. "I wish I can do something about it... But... With the current knowledge I have...it's impossible..."

OoOoOoO

Someone slowly approached the site of an old ruins. He was dressed from head to toe in dark gray clothing and had long silver hair tied up in a loose, low ponytail. He also wore a gold-colored armlet on each of his wrists, silver leg guards on both of his legs, a silver-colored neck guard and a brown belt on his waist.

However, what he found there wasn't something he wanted to see. The glyph that laid on the ground of the ruins was no longer glowing. In fact, it looked like it had been shattered.

"Oh great. This is bad. Very bad."

"So you felt it too?"

He turned around, and found himself face to face with someone familiar. He had four arms and wore purple-colored knee high boots. He had blond hair and wore a cloak that resembled really long hair, and had several pointed things that resembled spear-heads floating around him.

"Origin..."

"Haven't seen you for a long time, Sekundes."

"Yes," Sekundes replied, turning away. "Not since you asked me to imbue the Eternal Sword with the power of time and space."

"That turned out to be quite a disaster..." Origin muttered solemnly, more to himself than anyone else.

"Ho, I see the both of you are here too."

Both Origin and Sekundes turned to face yet another newcomer. He wore a purple-colored robe and hat, and sat on a circular floating platform with several triangular and arched appendages around it. His form is that which gives the look of an old wise sage.

"Maxwell..."

"Ho, this certainly doesn't bode well, does it?" Maxwell replied, after surveying the ruins that was in-front of the three summon spirits.

"That's not all," another voice said as it slowly came out of the bushes. The thing that came out of the bushes was a large fox with nine tails. It was yellow-brown in color, and it has four green and five blue tails. It had blue-colored paws and was wearing a bell on its neck. "It seems that he might be trying to poison the tree's mana."

The other three summon spirits turned to face the nine-tailed fox.

"Are you sure, Verius?" Origin asked.

"Yes," Verius replied. "I had spoken with the new Summon Spirit of the World Tree before coming here. That is what she told me."

"This spells real trouble," Maxwell said as he placed his left hand on his chin, as if thinking. "The new tree is only about two months old. It's not going to be able to get rid of this mana very quickly, which will lead to the death of the tree. And we don't know for how long it can hold up. If we're lucky, between one to two years. If we're not..."

"And this time, there won't be a Great Seed," Sekundes added, realising the problem was more serious than he had originally thought. "The tree is still too young to have a seed."

"And we still have to deal with him," Origin frowned, crossing two of his arms. "We barely managed to seal him with the help of the elves, the original angels and the sacrifice of a high summoner the last time, but I don't think we're going to be able to do it this time..."

"I had a feeling he's bound to free himself from the seal sooner or later," Sekundes shrugged. "Now we need to find a way to deal with it. Too bad we can't do what we did the last time. In the end, it doesn't really solve the problem."

"If only there was a high summoner that can bring out Sekundes's full power, we might still stand a chance of defeating him once and for all," Verius muttered, twitching his ears about uncomfortably. "But the high summoners... They're all..."

Origin turned away from Verius. Sekundes caught onto Origin's thoughts and Maxwell simply sighed.

"Not like there has ever been a high summoner that was strong enough to defeat Sekundes," Origin said, speaking in what sounded like a bitter tone. "If there was, then this problem might have been resolved a long time ago."

"I'm sorry, Origin," Sekundes started as he turned away, with the intent of leaving the place. "I know what you're thinking. But whether you like it or not, he might be our only chance. He might have done some things you're not too happy with in the past, but if it weren't for him, the two worlds would never have been reunited and we wouldn't even be here talking to each other."

"Sekundes is right, Origin," Maxwell added, stroking his beard. "If the world was still split in two, he could have easily destroyed the link that held the two worlds together and whatever mana that supported them both. The world would surely have died then."

"That is irrelevant," Origin replied. "Afterall, his goal is to remake this world, not destroy it."

"While that is true, are you just going to let him do that?" Sekundes turned around and yelled at Origin angrily, despite the fact that the Lord of the Summon Spirits still had his back turned from the rest of them. "Well, I'm not going to allow that to happen. I have a certain attachment to this world and I still believe in the people that reside on it. A world that he's going to create, a world filled with mindless puppets, is not something that I want to watch over."

"Do whatever you want," Origin replied. "But he will have to prove himself should he appear before me." With that, the Summon Spirit of Creation disappeared from sight.

"Ho, it looks like someone will need to change his mind, if he can prove himself that is," Maxwell mused. "Well, I'm going to see what I can do about the tree's mana and see if I can slow the problem down." With that, the Summon Spirit of Birth also took his leave.

"What just happened?" Verius asked, completely lost in what had just transpired. "Who is this person that 'might be our only chance' you are talking about?"

"A high summoner," Sekundes replied as he turned, preparing to leave. "The only high summoner that is still alive."

"Wait! You mean there is still a surviving high summoner? Despite what happened during the Kharlan War?" Verius replied, quite surprised by this revelation. "Who is he?"

"Kratos Aurion."

OoOoOoO

"Kratos..." Aska started as he landed, perching just beside the human which the summon spirit had found sitting on the railing of a balcony that looked over the lower levels of Welgaia.

"Aska..." Kratos started as he stared into the huge empty space in-front of him. "Do you think I made the right choice?"

"It's really hard to say," Aska replied. "You had two choices. In the end, you chose responsibility."

"No, I didn't choose responsibility," Kratos replied softly as he stared at his crossed hands. "I chose to run away. Again."

"Ha!" Aska laughed in sarcasm. "You know that and yet you did it anyway?"

Kratos sighed and said nothing. Just then, Aska hopped onto the human's arm and pointed one of his wings at him.

"All right! What did you do to the real Kratos, you fiend!"

"Aska, what are you...?"

"The Kratos I know would never give up just like that! He would do everything in his power to protect the things that he cares about! And hence, he would do something about it!"

Kratos was completely taken aback by the Summon Spirit's outburst. Then as if realisation dawned on him, Kratos picked the two-headed bird from his arm and glared.

"Okay, fine, forget about the 'do something about it' part," Aska muttered shook himself free from Kratos's grasp. Flapping his wings, he hovered in place. "Seriously, the real reason you chose to do this was because of your body's frozen time, something that cannot be reversed, right? Afterall, no parent should have to see their child die... I can understand that."

"But I feel kind of stupid for doing that now," Kratos muttered as he turned to look at the ceiling. "I should have made the most of the time we have instead..."

"Hmph," Aska huffed. "Don't you think it might be a little too late for regrets?"

"You know what Aska?" Kratos started, turning to look at the summon spirit with an evil-look in his eyes.

"Uh oh, that look means you're planning something which is going to involve me..." Aska shuddered.

"You should become my messenger bird!" Kratos clapped his hands together in excitement.

"Uhh, what?" Aska yelled, indignant. "I'm going to call that summon spirit abuse!"

"Well, you're the one that wanted to stay with me, so you have to obey all my commands!" Kratos exclaimed as he reached out to grab the summon spirit. But before Kratos could accomplish that, Yuan came dashing down the path that lead to the balcony where the summoner was.

"Kratos!"

Kratos turned around to face the half-elf. "What? Come to ask me to go back to Vinheim?"

"Look, Kratos," Yuan began as he stopped in-front of Kratos. "I'm sorry, that stuff weren't important, I don't need them."

Kratos simply gave Yuan a blank look.

"What the heck am I saying?" Yuan yelled, clutching his head with both his hands. "Come with me! You have to see this!"

"See what?"

"Just come!" Yuan exclaimed one last time before heading back the way he came from.

"I think we better follow him," Aska said. "It sounds really important."

"I know..." Kratos muttered in reply. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

OoOoOoO

"Look at this," Yuan said as he pressed several buttons on the large computer, bringing up a chart that was just completed and another older one and placed them side by side.

"Hmm, the readings are different today," Kratos mused has he placed his left hand on his chin, thinking. "It's fluctuating a lot. I don't think it's normal for the mana flow to be this irregular."

"Irregular mana flow..." Aska muttered. He was sitting perched on Kratos's right shoulder. "Something's wrong."

"Something is very wrong," Yuan said, turning to face Kratos. "What are we going to do?"

"What can we do?" Kratos replied, sighing and rubbing his head. "It's not as if we can leave here."

"Can't we at least send a message or something?" Yuan asked. "Maybe a message to Lloyd to investigate this? Afterall, he's the Eternal Swordsman and is responsible for the new World Tree since he is the one who gave it its name."

Kratos flinched slightly at the mention of Lloyd's name. Then he turned to look at the two-headed bird on his shoulder. "Aska, time to make yourself useful as a messenger bird."

"Uh, what?" Aska replied, clearly not amused. "You were serious about me being a messenger bird."

"Aska, this is no time for jokes," Kratos replied, clearly not amused himself by Aska's reply. "We have no means of communication to Symphonia. You're a summon spirit. You can go back and forth Derris-Kharlan and Symphonia as you wish."

"I'm only doing this because the tree and the world might be in danger!" Aska huffed as he lifted himself off Kratos's shoulder. "But I will not be your means of communication for personal reasons!"

"Aska," Kratos sighed. "I was joking just now."

"Oh, are you now?" Aska replied, glaring at Kratos.

"There is no point in you telling the Eternal Swordsman about this. Not even he nor the power of the Eternal Sword is strong enough to defeat the source of the problem."

Kratos, Yuan and Aska all turned around immediately when they heard that. The owner of the voice was sitting on one of the chairs with one of his legs over the other and his arms crossed, seemingly making himself comfortable.

"Who are you?" Both Kratos and Yuan exclaimed at the same time just as they stood ready to draw their weapons.

"My, you're with pretty hostile company, Aska."

"Oh, don't worry about them," Aska replied. "That's how they are. What brings you here, Sekundes?"

"Wait a minute, you know this guy, Aska?" Yuan asked as he fell at ease.

"Aska, did you just call him Sekundes?" Kratos asked as he moved his hand away from the hilt of his sword, looking quite surprised.

"I'm pretty sure I did," Aska responded.

Yuan raised an eyebrow. "You know him too, Kratos?"

"He's..." Kratos started, feeling somewhat uncomfortable in Sekundes's presence. "Sekundes is the Summon Spirit of Time and Space..."

"Oh," Yuan replied nonchalantly. It was only a few seconds later the half-elf completely registered what Kratos had said. "Wait a minute! The Summon Spirit of Time and Space? I have never heard of a summon spirit like that before!"

"Don't be surprised, half-elf," Sekundes replied, shrugging. "Only someone like Kratos, a pure-blood summoner, would know about me."

"And why's that?" Yuan asked, pretty curious about this summon spirit he had never heard of before.

"Because..." Kratos mumbled. "Only a high summoner is allowed to attempt to form a pact with Sekundes."

"Oh? How come?"

"Because Sekundes's power is not something a normal summoner can control. Origin doesn't want a normal summoner to bite off more than the summoner can chew, thus keeps Sekundes's existence a secret," Aska simply replied. Then he turned to face Sekundes again. "What brings you here? You seem to know the reason for the irregular mana reading of the World Tree."

"The seal has been broken, Aska," Sekundes replied as he stood up, looking serious.

"What? Are you serious?" Aska exclaimed.

"Yes," Sekundes replied solemnly. "The four of us, the Greater Summon Spirits, went to check the site of the seal. It's no longer active. He is the one responsible for this."

"This is unthinkable!" Aska cried, seemingly in a panic. "What are we going to do?"

"That is why I'm here," Sekundes answered as he walked towards the trio. "High Summoner Kratos Aurion, we need your power."

"Me?" Kratos said as he turned away. "I don't think I can accomplish such a thing. I may be a high summoner, but I actually think I'm not really all that strong. I couldn't even stop Mithos from doing what he did. You might want to find another way instead."

"Really," Sekundes replied, not very amused by Kratos's answer. "Is that what you think? Like I said just now, not even the Eternal Swordsman nor the power of the Eternal Sword can defeat the source of the problem. You might be our only chance. Are you going to turn away from the world that needs you?"

"Kratos..." Aska muttered. "You're not serious, are you?"

Kratos did not reply. The summoner simply stood where he was, not turning around to face either summon spirit. After about a minute of silence, Yuan, who had just stood there and listened to their conversation, started walking towards where Kratos stood. Then the half-elf threw a punch towards him.

"Yuan, what are you...?" Kratos exclaimed as he sensed the attack from behind. But before he could block it, the punch connected, slamming the side of his face, knocking him to the ground.

"Whoa," Sekundes remarked. "He punched him."

"It's usually the other way round..." Aska added, quite amused at what just happened.

Kratos, without getting up, turned to face Yuan as he placed a hand over the site of impact. But that wasn't what concerned Kratos the most. It was from seeing Yuan shaking in anger, clearly upset about something.

"Yuan..."

"I can't believe what I just heard...!" Yuan snapped at the human, seething in anger. "The Kratos I know will never turn his back from someone in need!" Then the half-elf finally broke down and slowly crumpled to the ground. "He may seem cold and doesn't care about anything, but he really is kind and cares for the people and what's happening around him. The Kratos I know will never give up just like that..."

Kratos sat there in silence, letting Yuan's words sink in. After a few more moments, Kratos finally said something.

"First Lloyd, then Yuan..." Kratos muttered, more to himself than anyone else as he stood up. "I'm really an idiot..."

Yuan said nothing as Kratos turned to face Sekundes. "I'll...do it."

OoOoOoO

"Really, you make a much better healer than an offensive spell caster," Aska commented as he watched Kratos heal the wound on his face.

"I beg to differ..." Kratos muttered as he finished healing himself.

"Oh come on!" Aska exclaimed as he stared down at the summoner. Aska is currently in his true form as opposed to the smaller, about the size of a normal bird one which he was using just now. "You were trained by the Legendary Healer Boltzman himself! He wouldn't have passed on his techniques and knowledge to you if he didn't think you would make an excellent healer!"

"All right, fine," Kratos mumbled. "Whatever you say..."

"Well, I think we're ready to hear what you have to say, Sekundes," Aska chirped as summon spirit and summoner settled down. "It's about time you explained why you think that Kratos may have the power to defeat him."

"Who is this 'him' you're talking about anyway?" Kratos asked. "You two don't seem to be willing to reveal his name nor even tell me who or what _he_ is."

"There is no need for you to know right now," Sekundes replied, shrugging that question off. "He won't be reaching full power just yet. He will need time to fully recover his power. At this point in time, I want you to concentrate on what I want you to do. We will tell you when the time comes."

"Yeah, sure, that certainly is very reassuring," Kratos grumbled. "So, how exactly do you plan on me defeating this...'him'?"

"I need you to form a pact with me," Sekundes simply replied. "If a high summoner can somehow bring out my full power, we may actually stand a chance."

"And Kratos is the only high summoner left," Aska mused. "That's why you came looking for him."

"Basically, yes."

"You want me to do it now?" Kratos asked as he closed his eyes in thought. "That..."

"No, not now," Sekundes replied bluntly, cutting Kratos from his thoughts. "You're not strong enough yet. You must find the other summon spirits and form a pact with them first. This includes Verius, Maxwell and Origin."

"Wait! Even Origin?" Kratos exclaimed as he went on alert. "I don't think I'm ever going to be ready to face Origin... Even though at that time when I released the seal on him, Origin listened to me and seemed to have forgiven me, but I know better. He's not going to do such a thing so easily..."

"I know..." Sekundes muttered as he turned away. "The outcome will depend on your will, conviction and determination."

"You say that so easily, but I'm not so sure of myself..." Kratos sighed.

"But as long as you're willing to try, that's more than enough for me," Sekundes said.

"And that's what counts, isn't it?" Aska added.

With nothing more to say, Kratos, Sekundes and Aska sat there in silence, as if waiting for something to happen. After a few more minutes of silence, Kratos sighed.

"What's taking Yuan so long?" Kratos muttered to himself as he stood up. "I'm going to check on him."

"You'd better go do that," Aska chuckled. "Who knows what strange things that half-elf is doing, or even trying to bring with him."

Kratos grumbled as he scrambled up the stairs and disappeared from sight, leaving the two summon spirits with each other.

"I've been wondering, Aska, what's the deal with the two of them?" Sekundes asked, breaking the silence between the both of them.

"What do you mean?" Aska replied, tilting both his heads in confusion.

"Well, you know..." Sekundes tried to explain. "Yuan basically _punched_ Kratos and _yelled_ at him, then Kratos changes his mind. It's like something transpired between the both of them, something that I don't quite understand..."

"That's called 'friendship', Sekundes," Aska chuckled. "They've been best friends ever since their Kharlan War days."

"Oh?"

"Well, it wasn't like that at first, but things sort of just happened," Aska continued. "They share an unbreakable bond of friendship. They understand each other through ways that others will find strange or not even understand. But you ain't seen nothing yet. The way they fight together, it's something to see."

"So basically it's a kind of friendship you don't see every day," Sekundes mused.

"It's something that you've never seen before, Sekundes," Aska corrected. "Even the friendship between Lloyd and Genis, the Eternal Swordsman's half-elf best friend, pales in comparison to this."

OoOoOoO

"Where the heck is that half-elf?" Kratos grumbled to himself as he searched every single room on all the floors of Vinheim with no luck. After poking into a few more rooms, he finally reached the area which housed Yuan's workshop. There were several smaller rooms between the workshop and his blacksmith forge. Then there was the library, with several smaller rooms separating it from the forge, ending with several more smaller rooms and the path he came from back to the workshop in a circle. The smaller rooms were often used for random things, or when they needed the extra space to do something. This part of Vinheim was officially theirs, since both seraphim had kind of claimed the area when Mithos had split the worlds and they started living on Derris-Kharlan.

Hearing some noise from the direction of the workshop, Kratos immediately figured that was where Yuan was and walked over.

"You're taking awfully long to get ready."

Yuan immediately turned to face Kratos when he heard his voice. "Sorry about that. I couldn't find a bunch of things that I wanted to take with me..." Yuan silently cursed to himself as he continued to turn the place upside-down to find what he was looking for.

"Well, it would help if you kept the place neater," Kratos commented as he looked around. Quite a good number of machines and machine parts were lying all around the floor, shelves and even the table. A lot more laid inside large boxes and chests that were located on the floor and several of the shelves. Even the toolbox laid open with the screwdriver just beside it.

"Excuse me for not being a _neat freak_ like you, Kratos," Yuan retorted without turning to look at his friend.

"Excuse me for being a _neat freak_," Kratos replied sarcastically as he looked around the room some more. As he gave the area a closer look, his eyes fell upon a couple of items of interest. There were two wing packs sitting beside Yuan's computer.

"Wing packs? You didn't actually stash away some Rheairds here, did you?"

"Actually, I did," Yuan replied as he moved over to the next shelf. "I thought they might come in handy, although most of the Rheairds I have are at the Renegade bases."

Kratos walked over to the table and picked up one of the wing packs. "I guess I'll hold onto one of them."

"Why not, there are two of us and two wing packs," Yuan replied, still fumbling for whatever he's looking for. After searching another box, the half-elf gave a silent cry of triumph as he pulled out what looked like a couple of computer navigators, the very ones they had used during their Kharlan War travels.

"Is that what you were looking for?" Kratos asked as he watched Yuan walk across the room to another table with a few boxes of machine parts on it.

"Well, yeah," Yuan replied as he pulled out several things from the box.

"Isn't the information stored in them...horribly outdated?"

"I've been working on updating them along with a new power source for machines."

"Is that what you've been doing?" Kratos muttered. "Even though..."

"Isn't it the same with what you've been doing?" Yuan replied in a slightly annoyed manner as he fixed something which looked like some sort of energy source into the back of both the navigators. "Even though we're most likely stuck here forever, you still practiced your swordsmanship. Plus you've been practicing magic on top of that."

"I'm just..."

"Killing the time?" Yuan cut-in as he paused on what he was doing. "I don't buy that. Remember? 'Always look on the brighter side of things.' You were the one who taught me that."

Kratos had no reply to that. He just stood there staring into empty space. The only sounds that could be heard for the next minute or so were the sounds of Yuan tinkering with the two navigators as he resumed working on them.

"I'm only saying this because," Yuan started, breaking the silence as he pushed some sort of a micro card into a slot on the navigator. Then he proceeded to do the same with the other one. Picking up both devices, Yuan walked over to where Kratos was. "I'm sure, somewhere deep down, is the Kratos I once knew," Yuan finished as he handed one of the navigators to Kratos. "Let's just do our best, all right?"

Kratos took the device from Yuan's hand. "Perhaps I just need to look harder."

"Of course you need to look harder, dummy," Yuan scolded has he gathered up his computer and the other wing pack. "We better get going."

"Aska and Sekundes are probably getting a bit impatient with us by now," Kratos nodded as he put the navigator away in his bag.

OoOoOoO

"Continue to have the others find and gather up the remaining Exspheres and Cruxis Crystals."

"Yes, Lord Kratos," The two angels saluted and bowed. "And put them into the containment room as usual?"

"Yes," Kratos nodded in reply. "We'll decide what to do with them later."

"Understood."

"Oh, Taylor, Runo, one more thing," Kratos continued. "You know where to find the Key Crests right?"

"Yes, we do," Taylor replied, nodding.

"We'll be sure to use them if any of the others show any signs of breaking out of their lifeless state," Runo added.

"I'll leave it to the both of you then."

"You can count on us, Lord Kratos," Taylor replied as he saluted once more.

"May both you and Lord Yuan have a safe trip," Runo added as she too saluted. Then both the angels took the transporter back to Welgaia.

"You know," Yuan commented as he watched the two angels disappear from sight. "I can't believe that someone actually managed to break out of the lifeless state the Cruxis Crystals caused."

"That goes to show how strong the will of a person can be," Kratos replied.

"Just like you did. Although I still think your willpower was something else."

Kratos merely shrugged off that comment, though he knew very well what Yuan had meant. "Those two have helped me a lot ever since."

"I didn't realise you had such help," Yuan grumbled. "I wouldn't have gotten in your way if I knew what you were really planning that time."

"Yuan," Kratos started as he turned around and glared at the half-elf. He knew very well what Yuan was referring to. "What happened is now in the past. I'm not going to hate you for it either. In fact, I've forgotten all about it."

"That's what I hate about you," Yuan grumbled. "You can never hate anyone, or anything for that matter."

"Is that so bad?" Kratos asked, looking indifferent.

"For me it is," Yuan grumbled. Then he noticed the indifferent look on Kratos's face. "Argh, just forget it!"

Just then, both Aska and Sekundes appeared before them. Noticing the strange atmosphere between the two friends, Sekundes couldn't help but wonder what happened between the both of them.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Aska commented as if reading Sekundes's mind. "That's just how they are."

"Okay..." Sekundes muttered. "Then are the both of you ready to go?"

Both seraphim simply nodded. Aska then disappeared in a flash of light. After that, Sekundes raised his hand and a glyph appeared beneath Kratos and Yuan. In a flash of light, both seraphim disappeared, with the summon spirit following suit.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

This fic is actually a rewrite of my former Tales of Symphonia post-game fic, Angels of Cruxis, under a new name. There will be no change in the general plot of the story. The general changes to the fic compared to the original one are mainly parts of the story being reworked in a different manner, the personality of the characters, and the time the story happens. Not only that, the chapters will also be shorter, and should not exceed 10,000 words, so thus, there will be more chapters and lesser words in a chapter. Some of the chapters in the old fic was simply too long, so I felt this needed to be fixed. I had wanted to rewrite the fic for a long time, and only really got around to it now after thinking about it more, and it had also been partly due to time constraints.

So, with the revelation of this chapter, the previous Tales of Symphonia fan fic I had been working on, Angels of Cruxis, will effectively be discontinued. I know I hadn't updated for a long time. Hope you enjoy this new and improved fan fic of mine.

P.S. I couldn't resist doing a 'punching Kratos in the face' part, he needed it XD


	2. The Desire to Protect

**Dirge of Symphonia**

**Written by Rena Chan  
4794 words **

* * *

**Chapter 2 - The Desire to Protect**

A glyph appeared near the Holy Ground, where the new World Tree now grows. Flashes of light came forth from within the glyph, which slowly cleared to reveal two people. An auburn-haired human and a blue-haired half-elf. A few seconds later, another person, who's actually a summon spirit, appeared in a flash in-front of the human and half-elf.

"Have we arrived yet?"

Kratos rolled his eyes at that question. "Open your eyes already."

Yuan did as he was told, and found himself staring at a huge plain of grass. "Oh. That didn't feel any different from using a warp pad or the teleportation spell."

"Were you expecting to experience something different?" Sekundes remarked, not amused at all. "Now I know why Aska called you strange."

"Uh, what?" Yuan exclaimed, flabbergasted. "I just thought it would feel different since you're a summon spirit and I had to be prepared or something..."

Kratos was trying his best not to laugh. "Aska called you strange..."

"Hey!" Yuan protested.

Kratos swiftly changed the subject. "Where are we anyway?" Kratos asked as he looked around, trying to find his bearings.

"You're at the Holy Ground of Kharlan," Sekundes replied as he turned in the direction where the new World Tree now grows. Following Sekundes's lead, both seraphim too, turned to look in the direction the summon spirit was looking at. There they saw a tree that was only about three heads taller than they were. Branches filled with leaves spread out from the trunk, the leaves swaying with the late morning breeze. Further down to the right of where the tree was laid the ruins of the Tower of Salvation.

"It has already grown this much..." Kratos mused as him, Yuan and Sekundes made their way over. "It was just a sprout when I last saw it."

"That's a good sign, isn't it?" Yuan commented as he stared at the tree. "Minus the fact that it's having an irregular mana reading, it looks healthy... At least on the outside."

"Sekundes," Kratos asked as he turned to face the Summon Spirit of Time and Space. "Why did you bring us to the Holy Ground of Kharlan? I don't think you did that just so we can see the new World Tree."

"Ever the observant one, I see," Sekundes replied as he crossed his arms. "I brought you two here at someone's request."

"It was I that asked for the both of you to be brought here."

Kratos, Yuan and Sekundes all turned swiftly at the sound of the new voice. It was a female with long, pale-green hair that went below her waist. Two hair-like accessories in the shape of leaves stuck out on each side of her hair. Her clothing was mainly light, dark and pale-green in color, trimmed with golden-colored lining. She held a staff in her left hand. Yuan's heart froze when he saw the familiar face that stood in-front of them.

"Martel?" Yuan couldn't help but blurt out. However, Kratos didn't seem all that surprised. It was as if he already knew.

"My name is Martel, the Summon Spirit of the new World Tree. However, I am not the same Martel you know, Yuan Ka-Fai. Neither am I the sister of Mithos Yggdrasill. Martel Yggdrasill is merely one of the many souls within me. I took her form because her wish for this world and all living things was pure and true. A wish for this new World Tree to represent all living things."

For a moment, Yuan had been hopeful. When Martel said that she was the Summon Spirit of the new World Tree, reality came crashing down and the half-elf remembered that the dead cannot be brought back to life. Placing a hand on Yuan's shoulder as if trying to comfort him, Kratos stepped forward.

"For what reason did you ask Sekundes to bring us here?"

"I merely wished to give you my blessings, Kratos Aurion, father of the Eternal Swordsman, the name-giver of the new World Tree. I didn't expect you to be a high summoner. That explains why Lloyd Irving seemed to possess the right of the pact."

"Lloyd is not trained in the ways of summoning, and neither is he capable of becoming a high summoner since he is not of pure-blood. But, I will do my best to see that the World Tree lives."

"Thank you. I will do all I can to help the World Tree until you can defeat the one causing this."

"Ho, look who's here. I hope you're not giving him a hard time, Sekundes."

"Origin would be the one more likely to do that, Maxwell," Sekundes retorted as he turned to face the old summon spirit.

"I knew Origin wouldn't just forgive me that easily..." Kratos muttered as he removed his hand from Yuan's shoulder and turned to the Summon Spirit of Birth.

"What he thinks is not the important thing, is it, high summoner?" Maxwell said as he stroked his beard. The summon spirit was sitting atop his usual circular floating platform. "The important thing is what you think. Prove to him that you're serious and determined about what you're trying to do. Afterall, the power of a high summoner is about what's truly in your heart, is it not?"

"Yes. Somehow, I had forgotten about that somewhere along the way. It took a really close friend to remind me of that."

"Kratos..." Yuan turned away from his thoughts as he turned to face the summoner.

"And I'm sure he will help me until the very end."

"Now I understand why Aska said that you two are one of a kind," Sekundes remarked as he gave a small smile. "Seeing this makes me feel hopeful."

"Me as well," Martel added.

"Ho, that makes three of us," Maxwell added too.

"I feel so special," Kratos muttered in a sarcastic tone. Then he gave Yuan a light punch on his chest. "Come on, snap out of it."

"I'm sorry..." Yuan mumbled as he turned up to look at the sky. The sun was almost over their heads and clouds drifted by, an indication of a fine weather for the next few hours. "It's just...the memories..."

"I'm sorry," Martel apologised as she stepped forward. "Perhaps I shouldn't have taken this form while there are so many others I could have used..."

"No!" Yuan replied in a hurry, waving his arms in-front of the Summon Spirit of the new World Tree. "It's not your fault! I can understand why you would choose her... Martel has always been a kind person, especially to everyone she met. Her wish for everyone in the world to accept each other and to get along, no matter what race they were, that is what the new World Tree stands for, isn't it?"

"Of course, this World Tree that was born to replace the Giant Kharlan Tree is a symbol that protects everyone that lives on this world."

"Oh spirits..." Yuan murmured softly such that the only person that could hear him was Kratos, thanks to their angelic hearing. "I think I might have offended her..."

Kratos sighed as he closed his eyes and rested a hand on his forehead. "I don't think the Summon Spirit of Yggdrasill is someone that gets offended easily. I could imagine Ratatosk doing that, but not Martel..."

"Did you two say something?" Martel asked tilting her head in wonder, not knowing what was happening.

"Ah! No! It's nothing!" Yuan replied quickly, almost yelling the words out. Kratos visibly cringed at the near outburst.

"It should be illegal for the both of you to have such sensitive hearing," Sekundes grumbled, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"Ho, ho! I'm sure whatever they're saying is of no importance," Maxwell chuckled as he placed his fist over his mouth.

"I see you're back on Symphonia, Sekundes," a voice rang out, cutting into their awkward conversation. A nine-tailed fox slowly walked out into the open, the bell on his neck jingling softly as he walked towards the group, only stopping when he reached where Kratos stood. "I see. So you're the high summoner, and one who possesses the power of a Cruxis Crystal. Somehow, I can't help but think that we got lucky..."

"This is not luck, Verius," Sekundes argued. "This is due to the decisions he made which lead to this day."

"Sekundes, you don't have to say that," Kratos muttered, turning away a bit. "I'm not exactly proud of what I did and what happened. Origin didn't like it and I think even my Dad would be disappointed with me..."

"I don't care what happened in the past!" Sekundes snapped. "What's important right now is the present and the future. I also...want to believe that you can do it..."

"I wish to believe as well," Martel agreed.

"Sekundes... I want to believe too..." Kratos muttered.

"I think..." Yuan started as he went behind Kratos and Sekundes and threw both his arms over both summoner and summon spirit. "The both of you will work well together."

"He still has to beat me first, half-elf," Sekundes growled.

"Well yeah," Kratos muttered in reply, rolling his eyes. "Sekundes is very strong. He's not someone that you can just beat up easily."

"Oh yeah?" Yuan challenged as he backed away.

Sekundes merely summoned one of his orbs and sent it flying towards Yuan. The half-elf reacted and quickly summoned his weapon to block the attack, but instead Sekundes's attack nearly sent Yuan's weapon flying, making the half-elf lose his balance and he fell to the ground. The orb then came flying back towards Yuan from the sky, stopping just in-front of his face without striking him.

"Don't underestimate me, half-elf," Sekundes muttered darkly, sending a dangerous glare at Yuan.

Kratos walked towards the fallen half-elf and stopped in-front of Yuan. "The power of the Greater Summon Spirits is not something to be taken lightly. You have not seen their true power yet, as we did not get the chance to fight them with me as the pact-maker during the Kharlan War."

"And that was only a fraction of my fighting ability," Sekundes added as he recalled his weapon. "When I get serious, you had better be careful."

"Jeez, I'm sorry," Yuan grumbled as he slowly stood up and put away his dual-blade sword. "I am well aware when a high summoner requests to form a pact with a summon spirit, they will use their full power against the high summoner and will not hold back. I'm just trying to forget about something..."

Kratos sighed as he turned back to face the four summon spirits. "I think we should get going."

"I think you should," Martel agreed, nodding. "Please forgive me for my selfish request. I'm very sorry if my appearance has caused any problems."

"No," Yuan muttered in reply. "I'm the one that's sorry, letting my memories take over like that... I'm sorry if I offended you in anyway."

"It's all right, Yuan Ka-Fai," Martel replied. "It's only a natural reaction."

"Come on, Yuan," Kratos called. "Let's go."

"Kratos, wait," Sekundes called before the two seraphim left. "Undine is currently at Lake Umacy."

"Why are you telling me this?" Kratos asked as he turned to face the summon spirit. "I thought this was going to be a trial, something that I must do."

"I'm merely giving you a starting point," Sekundes simply replied. "After Undine, you're on your own."

"Yeah, thanks a lot," Kratos grumbled.

"Ho, ho, quite enthusiastic aren't you?" Maxwell chuckled. "Well, I will await you at the Shrine of Birth once you have formed a pact with all the Elemental Summon Spirits. Until then, I will aid in keeping the World Tree safe with Martel." Without saying anything more, Maxwell disappeared.

"Good luck, and remember, I'm placing all my faith in you, don't let me down," Sekundes said as he too disappeared.

"Great," Kratos muttered as rubbed his head. "I feel more pressurised now."

"I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing," Yuan commented. "At least it will remind you not to act like an idiot."

"Jeez, fine," Kratos grumbled. "You don't have to add salt to the wound."

"You two are really close," Martel commented, smiling at both of them. "Human and half-elf, best friends, a very rare sight indeed."

"Uhh...thanks?" Yuan muttered nervously, blushing slightly at Martel's smile.

"Snap out of it," Kratos said as he elbowed Yuan in the chest.

"Hey!"

"Your bonds of friendship certainly knows no bounds," Verius commented as he stepped forward, brushing his tails on the ground. "I can certainly feel it. Before you two leave, I will form a pact with you, Kratos Aurion."

"Wait, what?" Kratos exclaimed, clearly shocked. "Just like that? I'm not sure I have the confidence to defeat a Greater Summon Spirit right now..."

"You won't be fighting. I just wish to see your memories, your heart. I'm also doing this because it seems like you know what you need to do, and yet unsure what to base your vow on. "

"I was going to think about it on our way to Undine..." Kratos sighed, somewhat defeated. "And you saw right through it..."

"It's all right," Verius replied, chuckling softly. "This seems like a good time as any to do it since my trial is very different from the other summon spirits, and I'm the one that decides whether I want to test the summoner or not."

"This is definitely not in what I studied," Kratos grumbled, running his hand through his hair.

"Nervous, huh?" Yuan commented as he gave Kratos a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, I think you'll do fine. Good luck."

"That's very reassuring," Kratos grumbled. Then he turned to face Verius for real. "All right, I'm ready."

"All right, then," Verius started as he stepped towards Kratos. "Give me your hand."

OoOoOoO

"I hereby pronounce you High Summoner."

"Dad! I did it!"

"You're strong, Kratos. I had no doubt that you would succeed."

_This is... I remember, I overcame the trials and became a high summoner at the age of 14, the youngest summoner of Polaris to pass the test to become a high summoner. I thought I wouldn't make it, but I never gave up and eventually succeeded._

**Impressive. Even Origin must have been impressed by that power and strength.**

_He certainly won't be impressed when I eventually go knocking on his door._

**How do you know for sure? Perhaps you will be different by the time you confront him.**

Rain was falling heavily all across the land. Sounds of battle rang over the village of Polaris as the rain continued to beat down. Two people, one lying on the ground, severely injured and the other, a boy of 15 years of age was kneeling over the other together with an orange-yellow two-headed bird. The sounds of battle rang quite a distance away from them, its combatants ignoring the trio.

"Please lend Kratos your power, Aska. This is my last command to you..."

"No, Dad! Don't say that!" Kratos choked, trying his best to hold back his tears but failing miserably. "I'm going to heal you!"

"No, save your energy..." Krulen whispered as he raised his hand to stroke his son's hair.

"But Dad!"

"My wounds are too severe. You are not strong enough to heal me," Krulen replied with a small smile before turning to Aska once more. "Please, Aska. Hurry..."

"As you wish," Aska replied, turning to face his dying pact-maker and giving him one last look. "This is something that can be done, as my bond to a summoner is of my own free will."

"Thank you, Aska. And please remain by his side always, for as long as he lives, no matter what happens."

"I will, I promise you that, Krulen."

_Dad..._

**So, this is what happened at Polaris, the reason the pure-blood summoners disappeared.**

_A summoner of Polaris had betrayed us. I had managed to get the survivors to safety, but in the end, no one wanted to fight. They wanted to continue to live amongst the normal people. Our pride as the true summoners probably died then. The one that betrayed us continued to bring harm to the innocent. I had swore that I would bring him down, not for the sake of revenge but for the sake of protecting the innocent._

**But why did he do such a thing?**

_Because he never understood what it meant to be a summoner of Polaris. He failed to become a high summoner and just blamed the summon spirits and the world for it. Even right at the end, he still never understood. He believed that the world revolved around him._

**I see. I also noticed that you're bonded with Aska?**

_Only because of a promise to my Dad. Even now, I am still bonded with Aska. He may be annoying at times, but we get along pretty well. Although, even after so long, I still haven't properly formed a link with Aska..._

**I'm sure that when you do, it's going to be something impressive. Aska's power can mean a lot of things.**

"Lionel! All those innocent lives, even the lives of Luke and my uncle! Haven't you killed enough?"

"A world that does not give me what I want should just die! If I can't get what I want, if I can't be happy, no one else should be allowed to! Even the summon spirits should just disappear! This half-elf will be next!"

"Kratos..." Yuan gasped.

"Let Yuan go!" Kratos screamed.

"And what if I don't?" Lionel threatened. "What are you going to do? You may be a high summoner, but unlike me, you're powerless!"

"Let...him...go!"

In a burst of light and power, Kratos summoned his mana wings and unleashed his angelic powers. Rushing Lionel, he unleashed a powerful blast of Crimson Aura power at the wayward summoner. The blast connected, knocking Lionel out of the sky and he lost grip on Yuan. Kratos dived after the falling half-elf and caught him.

"Kratos..." Yuan mumbled, half-conscious.

"I won't let him take the life of my friends or another innocent life ever again."

**So, this was the summoner that betrayed Polaris. And that power...**

_It's the full power of my Cruxis Crystal. It was that time its power fully awakened. When Lionel took the life of Luke, the Tethe'allan Prince during that time, who was also a close friend of mine just like Yuan, and my uncle, my Dad's brother, my Exsphere awakened and evolved into a Cruxis Crystal, and I had gained angelic powers. I used that power to make Lionel retreat. It was only later after I had defeated Lionel during the time when it had fully awakened that Yuan and I realised that power overpowered my Key Crest and I was in danger. It was the Master Blacksmith, Sereneus Calistiz, that made a Key Crest to put it under control._

**If a Key Crest is not strong enough to control the power of a Cruxis Crystal, the bearer will lose their soul to it. But still, strong feelings and powerful emotions, be it positive or negative, are required for an Exsphere to evolve into a Cruxis Crystal.**

_Yeah... It's kind of like a double-edged sword._

**I just took a quick glimpse at the rest of your memories, and I think I understand your feelings, emotions and experiences better now. You do indeed possess a strong heart, and I think you actually stand a chance. Not only that, the power of your Cruxis Crystal further proves your strength.**

_You're thinking too highly of me... Even after Sereneus had created a Key Crest to fully control the power of my Cruxis Crystal, I wasn't able to use its full power after that..._

**I'm sure you'll be able to use that power again one day, because I can feel that you possess something within your heart that is so strong that it will never disappear, no matter what happens. I believe that emotion itself was one of the reasons why you managed to fully awaken the power of your Cruxis Crystal in the first place.**

_And what is that?_

**Your desire to protect the ones important to you, and to protect the things that matter, that is something which will never disappear. You truly wish to protect this world and the World Tree, that much I can see. However, you will definitely need to regain that determination and willpower you once had. The strength that you seemed to have lost when you met Mithos and Martel.**

_I was once so sure of what it was that I wanted to do. I had a reason and a strong conviction, but after meeting Mithos and Martel, that somehow changed. I don't know why and what happened...it just did. When Mithos went crazy, I couldn't stop him. I simply didn't know what to do. I wasn't even so sure what I was doing anymore..._

**Then things started going out of control. Mithos had become too powerful.**

_When I met Anna, something seemed to have reawakened with me. But in the end, I wasn't strong enough to protect them. I thought they were dead, until I found out that Lloyd was still alive. Lloyd did what I couldn't do... He stopped Mithos, and a new World Tree was born. Even after all that had happened, I was still such an idiot... I was afraid to face reality and decided to run away..._

**I think it's a good thing that you're beginning to realise these things.**

_It's just I never really thought about all that until recently. When Sekundes came to me about needing my power as a high summoner to save Symphonia and the World Tree, I just simply decided that I couldn't do it. It was then Yuan reminded me of something very important. He reminded me of the fact that I would never turn my back from someone in need. I'm a healer, and it simply wasn't in my nature to do that._

**You have a very good friend.**

_Yuan is more than just a good friend. He's my best friend. He is one of the few people who I'd do everything in my power to protect._

**I see. Well then, it's time to make your vow.**

OoOoOoO

"What are you doing?"

Yuan looked up from what he was doing on his computer to find Martel looking over his shoulder. Then he turned back to his computer. "Oh, I'm just trying to remotely link to the radars at both of my old Renegade bases and have them read the mana flow around Symphonia. Just something I'm trying and see if it can help us locate the Elemental Summon Spirits."

"I see. You're making use of the time while waiting," Martel replied as she turned to look at the sky. The sun had just rose over their heads, indicating that it was noon time. The ever flowing breeze continued to blow gently, with the leaves of the World Tree dancing to its beat.

"Well, I'm not sure how long this was going to take so I thought might as well make use of the time-"

Before Yuan could finish, the sound of a low growl could be heard. And the source? Yuan's stomach.

"I see you're hungry."

"Uhh...haha... I forgot I haven't eaten since this morning. With all the excitement that happened, I kind of forgot..." Yuan said as he rubbed his stomach, slightly embarrassed by its rumbling noise.

"Haha. Why don't you make something to eat then?" Martel commented, a smile evident on her face.

"I...can't," Yuan replied sheepishly. "If I tried to cook something, it will just...go boom."

"Oh..."

"Mithos would always make fun of that and Martel..." Yuan started as he slowly recalled the times when they travelled together during the Kharlan War. "Well, Martel would just sigh."

"You speak of her quite fondly," Martel observed as she sat down beside Yuan.

"We were engaged..." Yuan muttered as he stared at his hands, depressed by the sadder parts of his memory. "We were going to get married..."

"I'm sorry..."

"It's all right. I've gotten over it. It's just the memories unwillingly surface by themselves. Martel was always kind to everyone, even her enemies."

"I see."

"Well, I have to admit," Yuan continued as he turned to look up at the sky. "I was a bit taken aback when I first saw you, but I kind of understand why you chose to take her form."

Silence reigned for the next few minutes as Yuan went back to working with his computer. Martel remained seated beside the half-elf and slowly stroked her hair as she stared at the sky, watching the clouds passed by.

"You know Kratos very well, right? What kind of vow do you think he's going to make?" Martel asked as she broke the silence.

"That's really hard to say..." Yuan muttered as his hands paused without taking his eyes off his computer. "Knowing him, it would probably be along the lines of saving Symphonia or something. But he can surprise me at times."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

After another few more moments of silence, the force field that surrounded Kratos and Verius disappeared.

"Looks like they're done," Martel commented as she was the first one to notice.

Yuan closed his computer and put it away, stood up and started walking over to where Kratos and Verius were, with Martel following a few steps behind. Verius acknowledged their presence beside him and Kratos, but the summoner showed no indication which told Yuan and Martel that he knew they were there.

"What's wrong? Make your vow," Verius urged as he sat there, waiting for a response from Kratos.

"I...can't..." Kratos muttered, still not moving an inch. "I mean, I'm still not sure..."

"Make your vow from your heart," Verius replied. "Just follow your heart."

"Follow my heart? I..." Kratos started but was still unable to continue. As he sat there thinking once again, the summoner felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he realised that the hand belonged to Yuan. The half-elf was sitting beside him, and nodded when he noticed Kratos was looking over at him.

"For what reason are you fighting?" Verius asked, without taking his eyes off the high summoner.

"I..." Kratos started once again as he turned back to face Verius as Yuan moved his hand away. "I vow to protect this world and the World Tree for as long as I live."

"I accept your vow," Verius replied has he raised his right paw and placed it on Kratos's chest. In a flash of light, a pendant formed and hung itself on the high summoner's neck. The gem which formed the pendant was an Emerald. "This will be the proof of our pact."

"A pendant?" Kratos asked, quite surprised at Verius's choice of accessory for the gem which represents the Summon Spirit of Heart. The summoner took it in his hands and looked over it. The Emerald was round-shaped, set with a thick, golden-colored trim around it.

"This is to keep my power close to your heart," Verius replied, unmoving. "Keep your friends close, your desire strong, and my power will surely strengthen the power of the other summon spirits. Afterall, the power of the heart represents many things, but true strength ultimately comes from the heart. Become stronger, never give up, and protect the things important to you."

"I will do my best," Kratos replied as he stood up and tucked the Emerald pendant to rest behind his clothes.

"Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Yuan commented as he stood up himself. Verius followed suit and too, stood up on all fours.

"It depends on how you look at it," Kratos muttered in reply. "I was reminded of some pretty unpleasant memories..."

"I'm sorry if my trial caused you any grief, but it was necessary," Verius apologised.

"It's all right," Kratos replied, shaking his head. "I'm used to being reminded of the past. Memories isn't something you can just erase."

"That is true," Verius agreed.

"I think you'd better be on your way," Martel interrupted. "You've been held back long enough. Good luck."

"Thank you for your well wishes, Summon Spirit of Yggdrasill," Kratos nodded reply. "We'll be going now."

"Maybe we'll see each other again soon," Martel replied.

"See you again, Martel," Verius nodded.

"Um... See you soon..." Yuan said nervously, which only earned him a chuckle.

Just before they could leave, Yuan's stomach growled again. Verius looked on in surprise while Martel chuckled again, remembering the same thing had happened just now. Kratos merely face-palmed.

"Yuan Ka-Fai, did you forget to eat again?"

"Sorry..."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

Second chapter! Uh, nothing much to say for this chapter, other than more um, plot development and some stuff related to things that happened during the Kharlan War, and of course some of the stuff that popped up in this chapter are related to the ToS spin-off sequel, Knight of Ratatosk/Dawn of the New World. No battles though, since Verius's pact-maker trial is different from the other summon spirits. I was actually a bit unsure of what to throw into this chapter, especially for Verius's trial, but oh well.


	3. The Elf Outcast

**Dirge of Symphonia**

**Written by Rena Chan  
9127 words **

* * *

**Chapter 3 - The Elf Outcast**

Luin was known as the City of Hope. The city itself had been destroyed a few times in the past, but the people always managed to rebuild it and made it better than ever. The last time it was destroyed was during the time of the final Journey of World Regeneration which the Chosen Colette Brunel had taken. Kvar, the Desian Grand Cardinal of the Asgard Human Ranch, the Human Ranch that was closest to Luin, had attacked the city because it was said to be harboring a few escaped ranch captives. However, the Chosen and her Guardians had stormed the ranch and freed the captives with the help of one of the escapees, destroyed the Asgard Human Ranch and killed Kvar. It was also this very same escapee that had helped gather funds to rebuild the destroyed City of Luin.

It was currently evening time in Luin. The sun was about to set, signifying the end of the day. People were scuttling around as they rushed home back to their families for dinner after another day of hard work. The smell of cooking floated out from the houses as dinner were still being prepared. A few kids were seen, saying their goodbyes before rushing back to where they lived for dinner.

"So, tell me why did we have to walk to Luin as soon as we reached Sylvarant? We could have just flew all the way on the Rheairds."

"If we had flew all the way, I might miss the aura of a summon spirit," Kratos replied, sighing. "We're going to be walking as much as possible and using the Rheairds only when absolutely necessary, mainly to cross the sea and also to conserve power. Add to the fact that you had forgotten to eat anything and we had to stay at the Holy Ground of Kharlan to take lunch, so I decided to skip the part of just going to stop by Luin to stock up on supplies, have lunch, then go to Lake Umacy, and changed it to taking a leisurely walk to Luin, stock up on supplies, have dinner, stay the night, then go to Lake Umacy the next day."

"What if Undine decides to move?" Yuan argued.

"Undine is not going to move, at least not that soon," Kratos replied, slightly annoyed.

"All right, fine," Yuan grumbled as he swept his hair out of his face. "Where to first?"

"Supplies first since the shops are closing soon, then we get a room at an inn."

With that said, both seraphim hurried towards the southern part of Luin where the grocery and tool shops were. On the way, they passed by a few people that were rushing back home, the statue of Sheena Fujibayashi which Yuan had stopped briefly to marvel at its resemblance to the real person, and the statue of Raine Sage which Yuan had noticed in the distance.

Once inside, both of them quickly set to take whatever they needed to buy. The stuff they took ranged from various gels, standard items and medicine, commonly found herbs, to raw food for cooking while on the road. Just as they finished paying for their purchases and were packing the things into their packs, someone barged in hurriedly and rushed to the counter, as if in a panic.

"Is the doctor in?"

"Unfortunately, he's gone somewhere and won't be back until a few days later," the shopkeeper replied. "Did something happen?"

"Someone found a heavily injured elf at Lake Umacy and brought him back here. He's in need of immediate medical attention!"

"Well, the doctor's out so I really can't do anything much about it. The best thing I can manage is to treat the injuries as best as I can and hope that he holds out until the doctor gets back and heals him..."

"I highly doubt he's going to survive that long..." The man that rushed in replied, sounding a bit depressed. "I've looked at his injuries, and they're pretty bad."

"What's an elf doing at Lake Umacy? They never wander too far off from Heimdall," Yuan whispered as he looked over at Kratos while they packed the last of their purchases away.

"Well, let's find out, shall we?" Kratos whispered back. He then promptly called out to the man. "Excuse me, sir."

"What do you want?" The man replied as both he and the shopkeeper turned to look over at Kratos.

"Would you mind taking us to where this injured elf is?" Kratos asked.

"Can you help him?" The man replied, scrutinizing Kratos as if he was someone suspicious.

"I'm a healer, I'm sure I can help him," Kratos replied calmly, unfazed by the look that was aimed at him.

"I certainly hope you can help him. His injuries are really bad," The man muttered solemnly as he took his eyes away from Kratos. "Follow me."

Kratos and Yuan both grabbed their packs as they quickly followed the man. They retraced their steps to the inn located at the northern part of Luin. By this time, the sun had almost set and there were a lot less people on the streets.

Once inside the inn, the bar was the first thing the two seraphim noticed. Travellers that were passing by the town, some of them also staying at the inn overnight, were seen at the bar on the first floor taking their food. Those that sat at the same table were seen chatting with each other about things that concerned them.

The inn had another four floors on top of the first floor, with about ten rooms on each floor. They were currently on the second floor and the man quickly lead them to one of the rooms there.

"He's in here," the man said as he proceeded to open the door. "Judging by your looks, I'm guessing you two are travellers. You can have this room for the night since there are enough beds."

"You're the innkeeper?" Kratos asked as he realised the meaning of what the man just said.

"Yes," the innkeeper nodded in reply. "It was a traveller that brought the elf here."

"We can pay for the room," Yuan said as he crossed his arms. "It's fine with us."

The innkeeper shook his head. "It's okay. As long as you can save that elf, it's enough."

"We'll accept your kind offer," Kratos replied as he gave Yuan a look that told the half-elf to shut up, stopping him from saying anything else unnecessarily.

The innkeeper nodded once more. "If you need anything, please come down and look for me." Then he handed the key to the room over to Kratos. "Here's the key to the room."

"Thank you," Kratos replied as he accepted it. Without saying another word, the innkeeper left them alone.

Kratos quickly turned to enter the room with Yuan close behind. Once inside, Yuan closed the door behind them. Just as the innkeeper had mentioned, the room had four beds, with two beds on each side of the wall, the ends of the beds facing each other with a set of drawers in-between the two beds that laid side by side with a lamp sitting on top. The windows themselves were situated at one of the sides where two of the beds were located, though not directly looking over the heads of both the beds. Two cupboards were placed at the two corners of the room furthest away from the door. At the area that was nearest to the door laid a square table with four chairs sitting by it. The shower room itself was located a bit further away from where the table was.

"Wow, not bad," Yuan commented after looking around the room. "I guess being the only inn in town means they can afford to have pretty decent amenities for the rooms without having to charge too much either. I'm kind of impressed with the recently rebuilt Luin."

"Not to mention Luin has gotten itself a really good mayor too," Kratos added as he started walking over to the bed where the elf laid after noticing where he was. Yuan saw where Kratos was headed and followed suit.

Once there, Kratos removed the blanket that was used to cover the injured blue-haired elf. Reaching over, Kratos undid the zip of the vest which the elf wore all the way. Once that was done, he noticed that the elf's body was filled with cuts, gashes and bruises all over. There were also visible wounds that were caused by magic. Moving over to the arms, Kratos tugged on the brown-colored glove which the elf wore, noticing that the glove reached halfway up his arm and was specially designed for archers, completely removing it. After removing the glove, Kratos saw that the elf wore an Exsphere on his wrist, with the Key Crest made in the shape of a bangle. Yuan, who was at the other side of the bed, removed the glove that was on the other arm. Similar wounds that were on the elf's body were also present on his arms.

"Is he okay?" Yuan asked as he took the glove that Kratos had handed over to him.

"The innkeeper wasn't joking about him being seriously injured," Kratos replied as he reached over to touch the elf's forehead, then moved his hand over to feel the elf's chest. "He's unconscious, and running a really high fever due to the pain. I'll need to do this fast," Kratos added as he stood back upright. "Yuan, I need cold water and a piece of cloth for the fever. I'm going to start healing him."

"Okay," Yuan replied as he put the gloves he was holding beside the lamp and quickly turned away.

Kratos took a deep breath just as Yuan set about doing what he was asked. Stretching both his arms out with his hands hovering above the elf, Kratos concentrated on casting his healing spell by calling upon both healing and earth mana at the same time and combining them both together.

"Healing Stream..."

OoOoOoO

"Looks like he's going to be fine," Yuan commented as he sat down on the bed with a towel draped over his wet hair. The half-elf had just taken a shower and was wearing a plain blue-colored shirt and long black pants. Then he proceeded to start drying his untied, near waist-long blue-colored hair.

"He's not completely healed yet," Kratos replied as he set about finishing up the bandages which he were tying around the elf's body and arms. "I couldn't risk pouring anymore healing mana onto his body, so the rest of the wounds will just have to heal themselves. Shouldn't take very long since he has an Exsphere and doesn't over-exert himself during this time."

"Why does he have an Exsphere anyway?" Yuan mused as he continued to run the towel through his hair. "Elves don't use Exspheres."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Kratos replied as he walked over to the bed which he's going to be using for the night, which also happens to be beside the bed Yuan's going to be using. "Although I'm actually more curious about the reason why he was suffering from those injuries in the first place."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"All those injuries on his body, they were all caused by water-elemental attacks and magic," Kratos continued as he removed his red-colored scarf that was wrapped around his neck and took off his blue-colored trench coat. After dumping them on the bed, the summoner proceeded to start removing his gloves.

"They were all water-elemental injuries?" Yuan exclaimed as he briefly stopped what he was doing. "How come?"

"Think about it," Kratos replied just as he sat on the bed and started rummaging through his pack. "He was found at Lake Umacy. That place has no monsters roaming near it. Sekundes told us that Undine is at Lake Umacy."

"Wait..." Yuan muttered as his mind registered what Kratos had just said. "You mean he was fighting Undine?"

"It's the only possible reason," Kratos replied just as he pulled out his towel and a spare change of casual wear. "As for why, I have no idea. However, he's definitely not there to form a pact with Undine."

"How do you know?" Yuan asked as he started brushing his hair.

"Remember, I told you before, summon spirits do not form pacts with pure-blooded elves. Only those with summoner blood in them possess the right of the pact."

"But that still doesn't explain the reason why the elf was fighting Undine."

"If I had to guess, that elf was probably trying to ask Undine for help with something. What, I don't know. But that somehow ended up in a fight, a fight to test his strength."

"Why?" Yuan asked, surprised. He had never heard of such a thing before. "He's just asking Undine for help, not to form a pact with her. It's only temporary, why test him?"

"It's actually completely up to the summon spirit to decide what to do with such requests," Kratos replied, turning to glance at the elf at the bed across his to make sure that he was fine, and it looked like he was sleeping peacefully. "It's the same with their summoner trials. They're the ones that decide what to do to test the pact-maker."

"Huh..."

"Well, I'm going to take a shower," Kratos announced as he stood up, carrying the necessary things in his arms.

"I'll go down and get us some food then," Yuan nodded just as he put away his brush.

Kratos nodded in response. "Hopefully the elf wakes up soon and then perhaps we can get some answers."

OoOoOoO

_"Tch, aren't you forever the useless one. You can't even defeat Undine and return to help us." _

_"Isn't that Exsphere supposed to make you stronger? Seems a bit pointless since it doesn't seem to help you. Wearing it only serves to mock us elves." _

_"The only reason you're still allowed to live in Heimdall is because the Elf Elder allowed it. Anyone else would have kicked you out a long time ago. After all, you're useless and an outcast. We don't need someone like you here."_

Keele slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the brown-colored ceiling above him. Of course, the last thing he remembered was that he was battling Undine at Lake Umacy and losing to the summon spirit. Remembering that fact made the elf realise that he was somehow still alive and no longer at Lake Umacy. Wondering where he was, Keele tried to sit up. Almost immediately, pain shot through his entire body, making him yelp in pain and lying back down on the bed. It was then the elf realised that he was wrapped up with bandages.

"You shouldn't move so suddenly. It will only cause unnecessary pain and stress on your body."

Keele tried to sit up again, but did it slowly this time, and the pain was less intense. Just before he managed to sit up completely, the person that had spoken just now had walked over and was now beside him. Reaching behind Keele, he moved the pillow higher and motioned for the elf to lean back against it.

"Given your current condition, it will be better for you to lie back."

Keele did as he was told and leaned against the pillow. Turning his head to look over at the person beside him properly for the first time, the first thing Keele noticed was that he was a human. He had auburn-colored hair and was wearing a plain white-colored shirt and black pants.

"Where am I? What happened?"

"You're currently at an inn in Luin. Someone found you at Lake Umacy and brought you here. The doctor of this town wasn't in, but my friend and I happened to be around so we fixed you up."

"I see... Thank you for saving me," Keele replied, turning to stare at the blanket that was covering part of his body and legs. "Although it might have been better if no one found me. After all, to the elves of Heimdall, I'm useless and unable to do anything for them."

"Don't say that. Even the smallest thing has its use. I'm sure there is something that makes you unique."

"I don't know about that," Keele muttered. "I'm nothing but a dead weight to the elves. They don't even like me in the first place."

Kratos sighed. He wasn't sure what made the elf in-front of him think that way, but Kratos knew whatever he said to him now would be pointless. Kratos's words definitely wasn't going to change the elf's mind anytime soon. But one thing was certain, this elf wasn't very well-liked by the residents of Heimdall, even though he's a pure-blood elf.

Deciding to change the subject, Kratos introduced himself. "I'm Kratos, and my friend, who happens to be pretending to be sleeping with a book on his face over there, is Yuan. What's your name?"

Keele turned to look over at the bed that was diagonally across his. Becoming more aware of another person in the room, Keele realised that Kratos's friend was a half-elf. The elf was surprised by this, but said nothing about it as he turned to face Kratos and answered his question. "My name is Keele Silverlance."

"So, Keele, care to tell me why you were at Lake Umacy seeking Undine's help?"

Keele was completely taken aback by Kratos's question. "How did you know about that?"

"Yuan and I are on the trail of the summon spirits, and we know that Undine's current location is at Lake Umacy. When I treated your injuries, I noticed that they were all caused by water-elemental attacks and magic. It's not hard to deduce that from there."

Keele simply stared in surprise at Kratos as he slowly realised that the actual healer was not the half-elf that was also in the room with them but the human before him. Only a skilled and knowledgeable healer would be able to tell what kind of injuries someone was suffering from. Not only that, it wasn't everyday someone encountered a human that was infused with the power of Aionis. As much as Keele wasn't expecting to be alive after losing to Undine, he certainly wasn't expecting to be saved by a human that could use magic and a healer to boot.

"Don't be so surprised. Nothing gets past Kratos easily."

Keele turned to look at the direction of the voice. Yuan had come over and Keele finally got a good look at him. He was wearing a plain blue-colored shirt and long black pants. He had long blue-colored hair with the shorter lock of his fringe falling along the right side of his face and the rest of his hair at his back.

"Oh wait. Or was it you were surprised by the fact that one of Symphonia's best healers is a human?"

"Um..."

"Oh wait. I think it's supposed to be the best healer in Symphonia."

"Yuan!" Kratos grumbled in annoyance as he took the piece of cloth that was beside the lamp and threw it in the half-elf's direction, which Yuan caught easily. "We were having a conversation. Don't say things that have absolutely no relevance to the topic at hand!"

"I'm just stating a fact."

"But it has nothing to do with why Keele was at Lake Umacy seeking Undine!"

"Right. But it's still a fact."

"You really love to point that out, don't you?"

"Cause the whole world needs to know that you're the best healer and not just one of those run-of-the-mill ones that claim that they are a good healer just because they can use healing spells."

In the end, Kratos gave up and blasted Yuan with Wind Blade.

"Hey!"

"It would help if you just kept your mouth shut."

Thus, it ended up with the both of them glaring at each other, seemingly unwilling to back down. Of course, that was until they heard the soft sound of giggling coming from the bed beside them.

"What?" Both Kratos and Yuan turned to look at the giggling elf.

"You two sound like two kids quarrelling over a cookie..."

"What? There's no cookie here!" Yuan exclaimed, clearly shocked.

"It's just a metaphor, you stupid half-elf," Kratos grumbled, crossing his arms.

"What? I am not...!"

"Then how would you not know a metaphor when you come across one?"

"Gah! I don't even like cookies!"

Somehow, the conversation had went downhill from there. Keele could only stare in wonder at what was happening, completely lost.

"Don't worry, it happens all the time."

Keele turned over in surprise at where the third voice came from. However, he had turned over too fast and that earned him a brief sharp pain from his wounds. Wincing, the elf saw what was beside him. Or rather, what was perched on the head of the bed's frame. An orange-yellow-colored two-headed bird the size of a falcon.

"A talking two-headed bird?" Keele exclaimed in surprise.

"I'm not a bird. I'm a summon spirit," the "bird" chirped in reply, raising one of his wings.

"Uh, excuse me for my rudeness, but what's a summon spirit doing here?"

"In case you didn't hear what Kratos had said earlier, since you were probably surprised at him being a healer, he mentioned that they're on the trail of the summon spirits. Kratos is my pact-maker, so naturally I'm always by his side."

"Oh," Keele barely got that word out when he realised what the bird had just said. "Wait, Kratos is a summoner?"

"Ever since the day he was born."

"Ah... I guess that's a stupid question..." Keele replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Which Lesser Summon Spirit are you then?"

"I'm not a Lesser Summon Spirit," the two-headed bird replied, feeling slightly offended. "I'm an Elemental Summon Spirit, the Summon Spirit of Light, Aska."

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Keele apologised profusely. "It's just you look like one..."

"I can't possibly use my actual form when we're in a building," Aska grumbled. "But I guess it's to be expected."

"Aska, what are you doing?" Kratos asked as he turned around, sensing Aska's presence in the room.

"Entertaining this elf here while the two of you sort out your staring contest," Aska replied sarcastically. "I think he's ready to tell you two why he was at Lake Umacy."

Before saying another word, Kratos turned back and gave Yuan a glare that practically told the half-elf to shut up or you're going to get it, which caused Yuan to cringe in defeat, before turning back to Keele.

"So, care to tell us why you were at Lake Umacy seeking Undine's help?"

OoOoOoO

"So, the reason that Keele is seeking Undine's help is because Heimdall is plagued by some sort of disease, huh."

After telling both Kratos and Yuan the reason he was seeking Undine's aid, Keele had quickly fallen back to sleep. The room was mostly silent, except for the soft footsteps of Yuan's slow pacing. The half-elf was moving around slowly, as if thinking. However, as soon as he realised that he was being ignored, Yuan turned to see what Kratos was doing, and saw that his best friend was rummaging through his stuff, and had a couple of books lying on the bed.

"What are you looking for?"

"I had a feeling of d?vu," Kratos replied without lifting his head to look at Yuan. "I'm making sure."

"You mean you came across a similar disease before with the exact same symptoms?"

"It is not I, but rather, we came across it before," Kratos corrected. Finally finding what he was looking for, the healer pulled a book out and started flipping through it really quickly. Kratos stopped as soon as he found the page he was looking for.

Yuan walked over when he realised what the book Kratos was looking at was. Stopping beside where Kratos was at, Yuan wondered what was the verdict.

"Just as I thought..." Kratos muttered. "I'll still need to physically examine one of the elves to be sure that it's exactly the same thing..."

"Well? Care to tell me what it is?" Yuan asked, feeling a bit ignored. He crossed his arms as he waited for Kratos to answer.

Kratos closed the book he was holding and turned to look over at Yuan. "Remember the time when we needed to go to Heimdall for permission to enter the Torent Forest to look for Origin?"

Yuan paused and placed his right hand on his chin as if in thought. "I remember that we seemed to have gone there only to find that the elves of Heimdall were sick. Don't tell me you think that it's the same thing?"

Kratos sighed as he turned away. "I'm hoping that it's something else, but I highly doubt it. But if it is, then it's beyond my power to heal it..."

Yuan said nothing. He knew exactly what the cure was. The disease that Kratos mentioned was cured by Martel at that time by combining Undine's power and her healing magic, which was boosted by the power of the Unicorn's Horn in order to cure it.

Yuan realised that Kratos had gone completely silent after his last statement. Turning over to look, he noticed that Kratos was gripping his book tightly, a sign that he was slightly aggravated and frustrated, and Yuan knew why. Being a healer, Kratos got frustrated easily if was unable to help those that were right in-front of him. That was the reason why the seraph hated it when he had to go inspect the Desian Human Ranches during Mithos's rule. People in-front of him were suffering and yet he was powerless to stop it. While Kratos never showed it, Yuan knew him well enough that the half-elf could tell what his best friend was really feeling.

Kratos had the true heart of a healer, just like Martel. Sighing, Yuan walked back to where his bed was. "We should rest. We'll deal with it as it comes, just like what we've always done, right?"

Kratos did not reply, but Yuan knew that the summoner agreed.

OoOoOoO

"Yuan! Wake up!"

Yuan silently grumbled in his sleep and turned over, covering himself over his head with the blanket. "Just a while more..."

"We don't have a while more!" Kratos growled and silently cursed to himself. He always hated waking Yuan up in the morning. The half-elf was fond of sleeping in. Most of the time he would just leave him alone, but not today. The swordsman could not afford to let his best friend sleep in today.

"Oh come on..."

"Wake up this instant, Yuan Ka-Fai! Or do you want Keele to really die this time?" Kratos snapped this time. He was getting impatient.

Yuan threw the blanket off and sat up immediately. "What?"

"So you finally decided to wake up?" Kratos said in a sarcastic tone. "Now that I have your attention, I'm sure that you can tell that someone is missing."

"Maybe he just went downstairs for food?" Yuan grumbled, still sore at having his sleep disturbed.

"I've already checked. The innkeeper said he left about an hour ago. I can't even sense a single trace of his aura," Kratos replied as he quickly packed his stuff away. "Wash up quickly and get ready to leave, _now_."

"Fine..." Yuan muttered as he got up from bed.

OoOoOoO

It wasn't until about ten minutes later Yuan was ready to leave. It wasn't the first time he had washed up, got dressed and packed his stuff away this quickly. It happened often during his Kharlan War days. After all, he was a soldier fighting for the Sylvarant Army. Even after he had reunited with Kratos and started travelling around with him and a couple of other people, he had to be ready to get up and leave quickly when the situation demanded it. Such was the time of war.

Grabbing his things, Yuan quickly went downstairs and made a stop at the counter of the inn to return the key to the room. After thanking the innkeeper again for letting them have the room for free, Yuan quickly stepped outside. Turning to the sky, the half-elf realised that the sun had barely rose. The streets of Luin were still quite empty and there wasn't much happening right now, save for the few people that ran grocery stores and the ones that did their grocery shopping early in the morning.

After strolling about town for a bit, Yuan found Kratos by the fountain at the western part of Luin where a statue of Lloyd stood. For a moment, Yuan had wondered the reason Kratos was there because of Lloyd's statue, but then remembered the current situation. For as long as he had known his best friend, Yuan knew Kratos always focused on the task at hand, not letting anything that wasn't important distract him. That was also the reason Yuan didn't argue back just now when Kratos dropped his serious tone. The half-elf knew better than anyone else the consequences of retorting when Kratos was dead serious. Either you obeyed, or you would face his wrath.

As he got closer, Yuan realised that the summoner seemed to be concentrating on something. Kratos didn't even turn around when the half-elf approached him. The summoner simply remained as he was with his chin resting on the crossed fingers of his hand, with his elbows resting on his lap. Kratos probably sensed Yuan approaching anyway, and there wasn't any need to break from what he was doing. After all, Kratos was expecting him.

It felt like forever before Kratos finally stirred. Getting out of the position he was in, the summoner stood up. "Lake Umacy. Keele went back to Lake Umacy."

"Wait, what?" Yuan sputtered in surprise. "Alone? To fight Undine again? In his state? Is he crazy?"

"It's not as if I didn't expect it," Kratos replied without moving. "He desperately wants to save the elves, despite the fact that they may not appreciate it. He's desperately trying to prove that he can do something, trying to seek their approval. Either he was going to succeed, or die trying."

"That's foolhardy! What's he trying to prove? This is merely suicide!"

"To him, it isn't. I'm only beginning to piece together as to the reason why from the way he acted last night, but one thing's for sure. He has never experienced a real friendship before. When he laughed, it felt distant, as if he hadn't done it in a long time. There was also a tinge of jealousy in that laugh."

Yuan paused for a minute and pondered about what Kratos had just said. While he wasn't able to read into people's thoughts and actions as well as Kratos did, not to mention that Kratos had an extremely high sensitivity to aura and could sense a person's feelings from their aura which gives the pure-blood summoner another advantage, but he certainly understood him whenever he said things like that. "That means he doesn't want anyone to help him. He'd rather succeed on his own or die trying. But still, that's..."

"I know. That's why I can't just leave him alone."

"Then shouldn't we hurry to Lake Umacy?"

"Yeah," Kratos nodded. "Time to fly."

OoOoOoO

Keele gasped as another blast of water magic hit him. The elf gritted his teeth as he tried to stand with the support of his bow. But his entire body was screaming in pain. It was a miracle that he had even lasted this long. Keele attributed it to a blast of adrenaline rush, but it was somehow gone now. Not like it would help him anyway. After all, he was nothing but a weakling that couldn't do anything.

"Well? You can still back down. Summon spirits do not kill anyone that challenge them. But if you would still rather die, then I would kindly oblige."

_"What am I thinking? I couldn't defeat Undine by myself even when I'm at full strength. What chance do I have when I'm not fully recovered from yesterday? But still...I guess it's for the best. After all, I'm useless. No one needs me. No one would care if I died anyway..."_

"I guess you would rather die instead. Don't say I didn't give you a chance." Undine raised her hand and prepared to cast another spell.

Sensing the mana flow, Keele tried to move, but his body wasn't obeying. The elf didn't know why, while he was prepared to die, a part of him was screaming at him to dodge, to stay alive, but his body just refused to oblige.

However, it was too late. Undine had already finished casting Tidal Wave and the spell was speeding dangerously towards him. But before it reached Keele, someone came in-between the elf and the powerful water magic. Keele couldn't tell who it was because the person had his back turned, but the elf noticed something blue glittering from the person's back. Keele barely managed to register what those were. Blue-colored mana wings.

"Aura Shield!"

The Tidal Wave spell came crashing, but Keele noticed that the area around him and the person in-front of him was safe from the spell. However, before the elf could piece together what was happening, another person landed in-front of him, half-kneeling on the ground. And this person was facing Keele.

"Yuan?" Keele gasped in surprise when he recognized who that person was. However, Keele noticed something different about Yuan. Violet-colored mana wings were seen glittering from his back. "Yuan, you're..."

Without saying a word, Yuan grabbed Keele and took off into the sky. Turning to look back at where they were at previously, the half-elf noticed that the shield the other person had put up was fading. "Kratos!"

Kratos gritted his teeth as he realised that he was unable to hold Aura Shield for much longer. _"Damn it! Why can't I use Aura Shield at its full power? I don't understand..."_ However, before he thought about it further, the seraph knew he needed to do something before Tidal Wave blasted him. "Aska!"

In a flash of light, a white-colored glyph appeared in the sky. Aska materialized in his true form and fired a large ball of light at the Tidal Wave spell, causing it to scatter and dissipate. After the spell was gone, Kratos buckled to the ground as his mana wings disappeared. Aska landed beside his pact-maker and went on the defensive, in case Undine decided to continue attacking them.

"Kratos!" Yuan exclaimed as he landed beside the summoner, recalled his wings as he continued to hold onto Keele. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine..." Kratos muttered as he stood up. "I used Aura Shield longer than I should have..."

"Are you sure? Sereneus told you not to use your Crimson Aura power recklessly..."

"Don't worry about that," Kratos replied as he shrugged Yuan's words off. "How's Keele?"

"Still alive if that's what you mean," Yuan replied as he turned to look at the elf he's holding.

"Kratos... Yuan... You two are... Why..." Keele muttered in his half-conscious state. While he was conscious enough to be able to register what was happening, his body wasn't in a state to move at all. He was suffering from new injuries and a few of his old ones got worse.

"Why do you interfere?" Undine asked as she got impatient.

Ignoring the summon spirit for the moment, Kratos raised both his hands and started focusing healing mana onto Keele's body as he uttered a spell incantation. "Aqua Heal." The elf's more severe wounds started to heal up a little. After a few more seconds of being exposed to the healing spell, Kratos stopped it. "This will have to do. We need to deal with Undine first."

Yuan nodded as he sat the elf down on the ground and remained crouched beside him. Kratos turned to acknowledge Undine while Yuan remained with Keele.

"Why do you interfere?" Undine asked again. "He wishes to die, I was merely granting his wish."

"I'm a healer, I don't give up on people until the very end. If this elf wishes to die, it's his choice, but not before I've tried to help him first," Kratos replied firmly.

"Who are you to decide for him?" Undine challenged.

"Then let me ask you, Undine, who are you to decide that you should be the one to kill someone just because he wished it?" Kratos replied, seemingly unfazed by the question.

Undine looked a bit surprised at the answer. "Ha ha ha! You show no hesitation at all with your answer! Clearly my observations of you weren't adequate during the time when you travelled with Mithos while he was my pact-maker!"

Kratos frowned as he wasn't exactly amused with Undine's outburst. The summoner turned to look over at Aska with a face that clearly asked what just happened. The Summon Spirit of Light shrugged and returned a look that seemed to indicate that's just how Undine is.

"Very well," Undine continued as she got serious. "You who possess the right of the pact, I am one who is bound to Sheena. What do you wish of me?"

Kratos took a deep breath as he stepped forward moving in-front of Aska. The Summon Spirit of Light gestured to Yuan who was still beside Keele to hand the elf over to him. Yuan obeyed and stood up with Keele, with the half-elf supporting the latter. Grabbing Keele with one of his talons, Aska brought the elf to one side where he would be safe and watched over him.

"Undine, I am Kratos Aurion. I ask that you annul your pact with Sheena and form a new pact with me."

"Since Sheena has fulfilled her vow, the formation of a new pact is possible. But before I can do that, I must first test your worthiness as a pact-maker. Get ready!"

With the signal to start the battle, Kratos quickly unsheathed his sword and charged forward towards Undine. Once there, Kratos's sword met with Undine's water sword as she blocked Kratos's strike. They exchanged a few sword strikes thereafter, neither yielding as both summoner and summon spirit matched blow for blow. However, Kratos wasn't fighting alone. Just as Undine did a download swing, instead of blocking it, Kratos back-stepped away from it instead. Just then, a magic glyph appeared beneath the Summon Spirit of Water which signalled that she was the target of an incoming magic spell.

"Holy lightning, I call upon thee from the heavens to unleash thy fury of thunder! Indignation!"

That call revealed Yuan who was behind the casting of the powerful lightning spell. Kratos was merely diverting Undine's attention away from the half-elf who had started casting it right at the start of the battle. The spell struck, blasting Undine with a huge bolt of lightning.

However, that didn't seem to phase the Summon Spirit of Water much as she recovered. Even though she was weak against lightning, it was still going to take more than that to take her down and for Kratos to pass her test to get that pact.

Undine recovered just in time to block another incoming strike. However, this time it wasn't Kratos that swung at her. It was Yuan. Yuan quickly followed up with a second strike with the other end of his dual-bladed sword, surprising Undine enough to be able to strike the summon spirit. Without giving Undine a chance to recover, Yuan rushed her just as she staggered backwards. With his Swallow charged with lightning mana, Yuan brought it down towards Undine.

"Thunder Explosion!"

The barrage of lightning exploded all around Undine hurting her even further. The summon spirit tried to recover from the attacks once again, but she wasn't being given any room to breathe.

"Thunder Blade!"

This time, it was Kratos that fired off a magic spell. The blade made out of lightning came crashing from the sky onto Undine. The continuous attacks from the two seraphim ended up driving Undine into the water of Lake Umacy.

OoOoOoO

"Wow, that's pretty amazing," Keele commented. He had recovered enough by then and was spectating the battle along with Aska who was beside him. "One attacks at the frontline and the other used a magic spell. Then they switched roles just like that, forcing the opponent to deal with a different opponent at a moment's notice."

Aska turned one of his heads over to look at the elf. "That's how they fight. While the two of them have completely different fighting styles on their own, they know what the other is capable of and are able to adapt to the other. They are completely in sync with the other when fighting together. Trust is extremely important when fighting in a team. They trust each other, understand each other's fighting style and they cover each other."

"A bond of friendship and trust..." Keele trailed off as he stared at the sky as if thinking of something.

Aska did not turn away and decided to observe the elf. Keele looked like he was thinking of something that happened in the past. What, the summon spirit didn't know. After all, he wasn't Sekundes, the Summon Spirit of Time and Space. But one thing Aska was certain of from the way the elf had spoken the previous sentence. It wasn't something pleasant.

"So, what do you think of them?" Aska asked suddenly, seemingly in an attempt to distract Keele from his unpleasant memories.

"Huh?"

"Kratos Aurion and Yuan Ka-Fai. Two of the Heroes of the Kharlan War, former Seraphim of Cruxis. Now that you know who they really are, what do you think of them?"

Keele bit his lower lip. He knew why Aska was asking that. It was because he's an elf. For centuries since the Kharlan War, after Mithos had split the world into two with the power of the Eternal Sword, the elves had severed all ties to the outside world, not caring what happened to it. Speaking of the Heroes of the Kharlan War was taboo in Heimdall. If anyone spoke of it, they would be exiled. That was the reason why the only person that was allowed to speak of such things did not live in Heimdall. An elf dubbed the "storyteller". An elf that feels that the history of the world should at least be preserved, thus he left Heimdall to do just that, and someone younger that believed in the same thing would replace the previous "storyteller" before the former passed on.

"I don't know..." Keele finally replied after a while. "I've always hated the fact that I'm an elf. But one cannot choose their parents and I've come to accept that fact. But the fact that I'm nothing but an outcast in Heimdall doesn't help. I've always wanted to leave the village for a long time now. But I don't know anything about the world, nor how to survive. The only thing I can do is stay where I am. Right now, the elves are in danger, and yet I can't do anything..."

Aska waited patiently for Keele to finish what he had to say. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he's a summon spirit that Keele had even said all that. It seemed like Keele was someone that kept everything to himself. "Kratos and Yuan aren't bad people. Believe it or not, they are trying to help you. My advice is, don't push them away."

"Why?" Keele questioned. "It's none of their business. It's not as if the elves would appreciate it."

"Why, you ask?" Aska replied as he turned back to the scene of battle. "As Kratos would say, you don't need a reason to help someone."

OoOoOoO

"Is it over?" Yuan asked as he stood side by side with Kratos after they had forced her into the waters of Lake Umacy a second time.

"No, not yet," Kratos replied as he stood ready. "Can you feel the mana flow? It's getting stronger. Undine is about to get serious."

"You know I can't sense water mana very well," Yuan replied, grumbling. "Because I'm extremely attuned to my elemental affinity, remember?"

"Oh right, it slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind? That's not funny."

Kratos frowned as he gripped his sword tightly. The summoner didn't even bother rebuking Yuan's words. While Yuan was extremely effective against Undine, the half-elf was also more vulnerable than he was to Undine's attacks, especially those that strike at long range and magic. Yuan needs to see the attacks coming to dodge since he can only sense the flow of water mana at short range. Unless he was fighting his opponent at close range, that usually spells problems for the half-elf.

Just then, Kratos sensed something coming at them at high speed. "Move!" Kratos yelled. Almost in an instant, both seraphim dashed off in opposite directions. Columns of water started raining on the both of them, targeting where they previously stood as they moved. "Don't stop moving!"

Kratos tried to edge towards where Undine was supposed to be. With all the water surrounding them, and the fact that he couldn't exactly concentrate on the aura of his surroundings with the need to be constantly on the move, Kratos was unable to sense Undine's exact position. He knew she was around the lake, but where exactly? The summoner simply couldn't strike without a clear target in sight. Just then, Kratos heard a barely audible gasp from a distance. If it weren't for his angelic hearing, the summoner might not have heard it. Ignoring what he's trying to do for the moment, Kratos summoned his mana wings in-order to increase his movement speed. He knew Yuan was in trouble and he had to get to him. The columns of water continued to crash around him as he moved, with him trying to get to Yuan's position as quickly as possible.

Yuan had made a grave mistake while he was trying to dodge the columns of water. Even though Kratos had told him not to stop moving, it didn't help with his dodging much. His lack of awareness for the flow of water mana caused him to make a slight misstep which compromised the speed he was originally moving at. He had barely managed to dodge the next column of water, but before he can gather his bearings together, the next one managed to land a hit. That caused the half-elf to take damage and he was unable to move for a while as he staggered. Of course, that meant he was a sitting duck for that period of time. Yuan sensed that the next water column was already extremely near him and tried to move, but even if he did move now, the half-elf was not going to make it anyway.

However, just before the next column of water hit Yuan, a sphere of light came blasting through it, scattering the attack. Yuan realised what had happened, looked up to find Kratos beside him, blasting another Aura Sphere at the next column of water. Now that the columns of water weren't scattered all over the place and targeting just the spot they were at, Yuan looked towards the lake and noticed that there was a wall of water at a single spot of the lake.

"Kratos, blast that wall of water at the lake," Yuan said as he finally recovered enough to stand up. Kratos nodded as he turned to focus at his new target. Yuan raised his weapon and fired off a blade of wind into the sky, dissipating the next column of water that came at them.

"Aura Blast!" Kratos declared as he blasted a sphere of light that was similar to Aura Sphere, only larger and more powerful towards the wall of water. The attack penetrated the water barrier and hit whatever was behind it, effectively stopping the columns of water that was attacking them. The wall of water also disappeared, revealing Undine behind it. The summoner followed up with an Aura Sphere which blasted Undine back into the water again. Kratos recalled his wings after his previous attack had landed.

"Did we get her this time?" Yuan asked as Kratos turned around and used First Aid on the half-elf. The spell washed over him and Yuan felt a bit better from the previous attack he took.

"This isn't going to work," Kratos replied as the glow of healing mana disappeared from his hands. "Undine will just recover from our attacks once she's in the lake, and will most likely use that attack against us again."

"Why am I not surprised the water recharges her? I guess it's to be expected since she's the Summon Spirit of Water," Yuan grumbled. He was still feeling a bit sore about getting hit and being somewhat useless against long range water attacks. "So, this is the thing that makes Undine stronger and harder to beat. I don't recall her being that annoying back during the Kharlan War."

"This is what happens when a high summoner asks to form a pact with a summon spirit..."

"Yes, yes, I know," Yuan gently retorted as he threw a light punch at Kratos's shoulder. "Any plan of action?"

"Yes," Kratos replied, turning to look at the lake, observing it. "We need to freeze Lake Umacy. Cut off the source of her power."

"Wa-wait, freeze the lake?" Yuan exclaimed. "I don't know any ice spell that is strong enough to freeze an entire lake!"

"I can..." Kratos replied softly.

"Eh?" Yuan exclaimed for the second time. "You can use ice magic?"

"Just the one that draws power directly from Celsius. It's strong enough to freeze a lake, but..." Kratos trailed off.

It was then something dawned on Yuan. Something that happened back at Derris-Kharlan. The spell that Kratos was trying to cast for the past few days, which always ended up in a failure and him getting annoyed with his best friend. Yuan knew it was an ice spell that had failed. The half-elf felt traces of ice mana whenever he investigated the scene.

Sighing, Yuan placed his hand on Kratos's shoulder and stepped forward, raising his Swallow in his other hand. "You can do it," Yuan said as he removed the hand that was on the summoner's shoulder. "After all, you've always pulled through at the most critical moment." With that, Yuan rushed towards the lake just as Undine emerged from it. Summoning his wings, the seraph took flight and engaged Undine in a battle above the lake.

"Is that so..." Kratos muttered to himself. Taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind of all other thoughts and started to focus on what he was going to do. "He's right. I won't fail this time." The summoner then raised his hands as he started reciting the incantation. An ice-blue-colored ring of mana started forming around him as ice mana started gathering.

Yuan was battling Undine above the waters of Lake Umacy, while the summon spirit floated about the lake, the half-elf was fighting in flight. They were currently exchanging sword strikes with each other, neither seemingly getting the upper hand. It was fine though, since that was what Yuan wanted. His job was simply to distract the summon spirit and keep her occupied without her noticing what Kratos was doing. Yuan was sensing the flow of ice mana in Kratos's direction at the same time, so that he would know when to prepare for their final assault on the summon spirit. It seemed like it was taking a long time until the half-elf finally sensed the flow of mana reaching its peak.

"Everlasting ice, grant me thy power, and embrace they with the unwavering power of frost! Deep Freeze!" Kratos declared as spears of ice rose all around the waters of Lake Umacy, slowly freezing the entire body of water. It wasn't long before the entire lake was frozen.

"What the?" Undine gasped in surprise.

However, it was the opening Yuan needed. Diving in, the half-elf struck the Summon Spirit of Water with his Thunder Slash strike arte as Kratos started moving in from behind. The final slash of Yuan's strike arte knocked Undine away onto the frozen lake, summon spirit skidding along it. Yuan then followed it up with his Thunder Wave strike arte. A powerful wave of electricity blasted Undine, not giving her a chance to recover. Kratos then fired off his Dragon Roar strike arte after Yuan's attack. A dragon created from pure mana crashed into where Undine was, further preventing her from recovering.

"One more time!" Both Kratos and Yuan called at the same time as they prepared to use Dragon Roar and Thunder Wave again respectively. However, this time it was to combine their attacks together to form a Unison Attack. "Roar! Dragon of thunder's fury! Thunder Dragon Roar!" Once again, a dragon created from pure mana rushed towards Undine's position, but empowered with the thunder element this time, crashed into the still struggling Undine. However, the impact from the attack was so great that it caused the ice to crack, plunging the summon spirit into the icy depths of the frozen lake.

It took about a minute before Undine finally resurfaced from where she sank. The water was starting to thaw out at this point. Even though Undine made no move to attack them, both seraphim, who were now waiting at the lake's bank, continued to stand their ground, ready to defend themselves at a moment's notice.

"I have witnessed your power. Now, make your vow."

It was only then both seraphim fell at ease. Yuan recalled his weapon while Kratos sheathed his sword. Stepping forward, the summoner took a deep breath and regarded Undine with confidence. "I vow to protect this world and the World Tree for as long as I live."

"Very well, I accept your vow," Undine replied as she acknowledged the vow. "I pledge my power to you, pact-maker Kratos Aurion!"

Undine disappeared in a swirl of blue light, and in its place, a ring with an aqua-colored gem attached to it slowly floated down into Kratos's right hand. It was an aquamarine, the proof of the pact with the Summon Spirit of Water, Undine.

Kratos closed his hand around the aquamarine. He knew this was just the beginning, and things would only get harder from here on. However, he wasn't going to back down. Not now, not ever. He will see this through until the very end, and he won't be alone.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

This chapter ended up being longer than I expected it to be, but I'm actually quite satisfied with it. I'm really liking my re-written version much more than the original. Now that Kratos has a pact with Undine, it's time for them to get going to Heimdall.


	4. You don't need a reason to help someone

**Dirge of Symphonia**

**Written by Rena Chan  
13053 words **

* * *

**Chapter 4 - You don't need a reason to help someone**

_"You possess the heart of a true healer. Even though you lack the power to use stronger healing spells, I'm very impressed with your knowledge of the ways of healing. I've been searching for someone worthy to pass my techniques and knowledge to, and I'd like for you to be my apprentice." _

_"But I am a part of Cruxis, part of the organisation that created this twisted world, I don't think I..." _

_"It doesn't matter where you're from or what organisation you belong to. All that matters is what's in your heart. It didn't matter who the person in-front of you was or what was his race, you helped him nonetheless. You didn't turn your back on someone in need and did your best to help him, not expecting anything in return. Most healers nowadays lack that. That reason alone is enough for me to know that whatever knowledge and techniques I will be imparting to you will be put to good use."_

OoOoOoO

_I've always felt powerless. Even though I could manipulate healing mana, it was never enough. I wasn't strong enough to save my dying father. I wasn't strong enough to save the dying summoners of Polaris. I wasn't strong enough to save Luke nor my uncle. That was before I met the legendary elven healer, Callius Boltzman. I was always in awe of how he was able to save the people in-front of him so easily, and jealous at the same time. _

_Even though I was able to save a lot of people after receiving Master Boltzman's knowledge, ironically, I wasn't able to save Anna. I possessed the knowledge but not the power. Funny how I can save others but not the ones important to me. _

_Even then, I never did let that stop me. After all, if I had given up, I wouldn't have been able to save Zelos. _

_But now, I'm afraid that I won't be able to help the elves of Heimdall. I'm afraid the disease they'd contracted was exactly the same as the one we had encountered during our travels during the Kharlan War. That disease is beyond my power to cure. _

_I hate it when I'm unable to save what's right in-front of me. What will I do if it is exactly what I fear? Master Boltzman..._

OoOoOoO

Now that the fighting was done, Lake Umacy had returned to a state of calm and tranquility. The birds were chirping songs of happiness and a gentle breeze swept the place, causing the leaves to dance to its movement. Small animals were scurrying about minding their own business, ignoring the three foreign presence that were currently present.

Kratos's hands glowed white as he called upon the power of healing and light mana. The spell washed over Keele's body as it slowly healed his more severe wounds. Yuan was off to the side giving the Rheairds a once-over to make sure there wasn't anything faulty and also to check on the power levels of the flying machines.

"Why are you helping me?" Keele asked as he watched Kratos treat his wounds.

Kratos turned to face Keele without halting his healing spell. The summoner tried to read the expression on his face, and it didn't give much away, except that the elf wanted an answer. Not even the elf's aura gave anything away. Sighing, Kratos turned back to concentrate on healing Keele. "I really can't tell you why I'm helping you, cause I've never needed a reason to help someone."

Keele fell silent after hearing that. It was exactly as Aska had said. _"You don't need a reason to help someone."_ The words repeated themselves in the elf's head. The elves he had known all his life were nothing but selfish people, only caring about themselves. None of them could be trusted. Ever since his father died, the only person that ever treated him normally was the Elf Elder. But that didn't count, he simply couldn't call the Elf Elder his friend. The Elder was more like a father to him than a friend. Consequently, Keele had shut himself off from everything. He decided that he wasn't going trust anyone. And yet right now, he was wavering...

"You shouldn't throw away your life so easily."

That snapped Keele out of his thoughts. The elf was surprised and shocked at the same time. He certainly wasn't expecting that, leaving him unable to reply.

"Someone once told me that one will accomplish nothing by dying. There is no meaning in dying, cause once you die, it's over. Don't you have things that you want to do?"

"I..." Keele started, but stopped after the first word. He was having a mental conflict within himself. A part of him wanted to say something, but another part of him held him back. The part of him that was still wary due to the betrayal by the elves of Heimdall. In the end, the elf said nothing.

"Well, it's fine if you don't want to say it right now," Kratos continued. He was finally done with his healing. After giving the elf another once over, Kratos stood up. "Don't over-exert yourself at least for the next day or two. You may have an Exsphere, but your body still needs time to heal."

"All right... Thanks..." Keele muttered in reply.

Leaving the elf alone, Kratos walked over to where Yuan was. The half-elf was still tinkering with the Rheairds. His tools were lying all around him so it was obvious Yuan was doing something to them. He had taken off his gloves and cloak and put them aside, so that they wouldn't get dirty while he was working on the machines.

"So, how's the Rheairds?"

"They're fine, but we won't be able to use them for too long. Because the World Tree is still growing, the mana levels are still low and that causes the Rheairds to use more power than normal," Yuan explained while he continued to work. "Even though we can charge the Rheairds by pouring lightning mana into them, it takes too long to charge them that way without the proper equipment, so I'm doing some modifications with something I had been researching on so that they would use lesser power and we won't need to charge them so soon."

"So we really shouldn't use them unless it's necessary," Kratos mused. What he had said about saving power on the Rheairds yesterday came to mind. "I guess it was a good thing we stopped at Luin yesterday."

"I hate to say it, but your decision saved us some power," Yuan grumbled.

"Plus we picked up something interesting in the process," Kratos chuckled. "How much longer before you'll be done?"

"I'll need about another hour before I'm done," Yuan replied as he picked something up from beside him and plugged it into the engine of the Rheaird he is currently working on.

"All right, I'll make us some food since we haven't eaten yet," Kratos said as he turned away. "We can head over to Heimdall after that."

OoOoOoO

It took them three hours via the Rheairds to reach Heimdall. It was a good thing they had the flying machines, otherwise it would take them about four days to reach the elven village, and that was by taking the shortest route across the sea from Palmacosta to the port that was nearest to Heimdall. Even though it would conserve power on the Rheairds, it was an emergency as they did not know the current situation at Heimdall and they needed to get there as soon as possible.

It was just past noon when the rare combination of human, half-elf and elf arrived at the Elven Village of Heimdall. The inhabitants of this place rarely went outside of their village since they were self-sufficient and almost never needed outside help for anything.

The trio walked through the village swiftly. It was devoid of life except for the few animals that dared passed through. Kratos could sense, using aura, that the elves were all lying in bed due to the mysterious illness that plagued them, with no cure seemingly in sight.

"Where should we go?" Yuan asked. The half-elf didn't like the silence that surrounded them. To make matters worse, it was exactly like that time during the Kharlan War which Kratos had mentioned last night.

"It would make the most sense to see the Elf Elder," Kratos replied. The summoner was getting worried and slightly frustrated. The silence was affecting him as well. "There's no doubt that everyone here are afflicted with the same disease. The Elf Elder is also the only one that will accept our help anyway. No point rushing into a random house."

"I'll take you to the Elder," Keele said as he took the lead. "He's the only one that knows I had left Heimdall to find help."

It didn't take long for the three of them to reach the doorstep of the Elf Elder's house. The house was made out of wood just like every other house in Heimdall. A small garden with several different vegetables growing out of it laid to the right.

Keele knocked on the door of the house, announcing his return. The Elf Elder had mouthed the words "Come in" in a strained voice, which was especially clear to the two seraphim due to their angelic hearing. Keele opened the door to the house and stepped in, with Kratos and Yuan following suit.

Once inside, they immediately noticed the Elf Elder lying on his bed that was to their right. The entire house was lit by a lamp hanging at the ceiling. A square table with several chairs sitting around it was to their left, with a couple of bookshelves filled with books lined up against the wall. There was a door further down, which led to the kitchen.

Keele was immediately by the Elf Elder's bed. "Elder, are you okay?"

"I'm still hanging in there as you can see, young elf..." The Elf Elder coughed.

"I've brought help, you'll be fine in no time," Keele replied as he turned to look at the summoner that was behind him. Yuan was sitting over by the table since he wouldn't be of much help at this point.

Kratos stepped forward. "Elf Elder, it's been a while."

"You're Kratos..."

"Yes. Yuan and I met Keele while we were in Luin," Kratos replied as he knelt down beside the Elder's bed, took the elf's hand and started checking up on him.

"They were the ones that saved my life," Keele replied, giving a strained smile. "I told them what happened here and they wanted to help."

"It should be fine then," the elder replied as he relaxed while Kratos continued his examination. "After all, Kratos is the inheritor of Boltzman's legacy."

"Wait... Boltzman as in the legendary healer? The elven healer that left Heimdall to search for a successor a few centuries ago?" Keele gasped, surprised. "You're Boltzman's apprentice?"

"Elder, this isn't something that should be freely mentioned around here..." Kratos grumbled. "You know the elves from that generation were not very happy to find out that Master Boltzman's apprentice wasn't an elven healer from here. Something that belonged to them but is now considered lost..."

"While that is true..." the Elf Elder muttered, just loud enough for those in his house to hear. "It's probably for the best... At least Boltzman's knowledge will be put to good use..."

"And that is why Kratos is the best healer on Symphonia," Yuan muttered lazily.

"Wow..." Keele said, suddenly full of admiration for Kratos. "I promise I won't tell anyone that you're Boltzman's apprentice!"

Kratos face palmed. He was starting to get annoyed. Standing up, the summoner got serious. "I think that's enough from the both of you. I can't concentrate with the two of you here. Get out before I kick you two out."

"Okay, okay," Yuan surrendered as he stood up from where he was sitting. Facing Kratos's wrath isn't exactly pleasant, and he knew that all too well. "Come on Keele, let's go over to your house. We'll wait for Kratos's verdict there."

"Uh, okay..." Keele muttered in reply, though a bit confused at why Yuan gave in to Kratos's demand so easily.

OoOoOoO

"Will Kratos be able to find us?" Keele asked as he put a cup of hot coca on the table for Yuan and sat down on another chair and taking a sip from his own cup of drink.

The house Keele lived in was considerably smaller than the Elf Elder's house. Unlike the Elf Elder's house where the kitchen was in a separate room, the kitchen was in the living area. Keele's bedroom was in a separate room, the complete opposite of the Elf Elder's house. A couple of bookshelves lined with books were seen resting against the wall opposite them. There was a door at the very back of the house which led to the garden that was behind Keele's house.

"Don't worry, Kratos can sense aura, he can find me easily enough," Yuan replied as he took the cup on the table.

"Aura?" Keele asked, looking confused. "I've never heard of that before."

"It's like mana," Yuan explained as he took a sip of hot coca from the cup he was holding. "Although, unlike mana, aura exists in all things, while mana only exists in the earth and living things."

"Is that so?"

"Only a pure-blood summoner like Kratos can sense aura though," Yuan replied as he took more sips from his cup. "But it's really useful. Being able to sense aura means Kratos can fight even without being able to see, since he can use aura to visualise his surroundings. This also allows him to see things that are even further away than our angelic sight can allow us to."

"Wow, that's kind of amazing..." Keele replied in awe. "But how is that possible?"

"It seems aura is related to the summon spirits."

"It makes sense. People like us can never understand the true nature of the summon spirits..."

"It's not just us," Yuan added as he drank from his cup some more. "Even normal summoners cannot understand the true nature of the summon spirits. Only high summoners can completely bond with them."

"I see..." Keele muttered, trailing off.

"Mmm, this is pretty good," Yuan commented as he lowered the cup he's holding.

"Ah, thank you," Keele replied as he snapped out of his thoughts. "It's my very own blend, made using the coca I grew myself..."

"The only other person that can make coca that can rival this would be Kratos," Yuan added as he took another sip.

"Really? I'd like to try it one day then," Keele replied with a smile. "It'd be nice to try food made by someone else rather than eating the food which I make for myself everyday..."

"Hm? You live here alone?" Yuan asked as he put the cup back on the table. The half-elf was trying to prod the elf to talk more about himself since he had some time. Whether he would be successful or not remains to be seen.

"My mother died after giving birth to me, and my father was killed by the Desians trying to protect me and the Exsphere that I have..." Keele started, trailing off. "I've been living alone ever since... It's been more than ten years... I don't have any other friends either..."

Yuan paused. The mention of Desians got his interest. What business did they have over at Tethe'alla? This part of the world was still flourishing then, and the Desians were supposed to be causing problems over at Sylvarant. But before Yuan could find out more, someone knocked on the door.

"That must be Kratos!" Keele exclaimed as he quickly went to get the door. Yuan didn't need to see who was at the other side of the door. He already knew it was Kratos. The two of them recognised each other's mana signature all too well and knew in an instant that the other was nearby, unless they weren't paying attention. Looks like questioning Keele about the Desians would have to wait for another time.

Kratos stepped in and walked over to where Yuan was sitting at. The summoner was carrying a book in his right hand. Putting the book down on the table, Kratos sat down. Keele joined them a few seconds later after closing the door to his house.

"Well? How is it?" Yuan asked as he got curious. Propping his elbows on the table and resting his chin on crossed hands, the half-elf waited for an answer. Keele himself was anxious. While he didn't care much for the elves of Heimdall, he didn't want to see them perish. Especially not the Elf Elder who had been so kind to him and took care of him after his father's death.

"It's the same one..." Kratos announced softly. The thing he had feared most happened. While Keele had no idea what Kratos was talking about, Yuan did.

"Well, what are you going to do about it now?" Yuan merely asked, quietly observing his best friend's reaction.

"I don't know..." Kratos muttered. "Martel gave me the incantation for the spell, but it's meaningless if I can't cast it..."

"Wait, what are you two talking about?" Keele asked. He was completely clueless as to what was happening. "You don't know how to cure it?"

"That's not it," Yuan replied as he leaned back against the chair he was sitting on. "Kratos knows how to cure the disease, but he's not strong enough to cast the spell needed to cure it. In fact, no healer can. You need an item to amplify the body's life force like the Unicorn Horn and Undine's power to be able to use it."

"This happened before in Heimdall?" Keele asked. He wanted to be sure he understood everything.

"Yes, during the Kharlan War," Yuan replied. "Martel Yggdrasill was the one that cured it. She had the Unicorn Horn at that time and Mithos had a pact with Undine, that was how we managed to fix it."

"I see..." Keele muttered. "Can't we go find a unicorn?"

"That's impossible," Kratos replied in an instant. "The next unicorn won't be due until a few decades later."

"But we know a healer that has a Unicorn Horn," Yuan commented casually. "If we can find her, we'll be able to help the elves."

"There won't be enough time," Kratos argued as he too leaned back against the chair he was sitting on. "We don't know where in the world Raine Sage is, and neither do we have enough time to search for her. The disease has already progressed quite far. If we don't do something within the next three days, they'll all die. We can't just depend on luck to find her. Just depending on the two of us to find her..."

"Then, how about we go back to Derris-Kharlan and find the Unicorn Horn that Martel used?" Yuan suggested.

"And how are we supposed to warp back to Derris-Kharlan?" Kratos retorted. "I don't have a pact with Sekundes so I can't just call him whenever I want."

"Good point..." Yuan murmured.

"Is there really nothing you can do?" Keele said in a raised voice. Both seraphim fell silent. Neither of them wanted to give up but at this rate, it looked like they might have to.

"We can still try and locate Raine, but there's not enough power on the Rheairds to travel all across the world," Kratos started, leaning his arms on the table. "Yuan and I cannot be in flight using our angelic powers for that long either. Using our angelic powers drains our own mana..."

"I'm sorry for that outburst just now," Keele apologised. "I know you two are trying your best..."

"It's fine..." Kratos muttered in reply. "There has to be another way..."

Yuan leaned towards the table once again, reaching for his cup of coca. It was then he noticed something sticking out from in-between the pages of Kratos's closed book. "Kratos, what's that sticking out from the top of your book?"

Kratos immediately sat up straight and picked his book up from the table. Turning the book to look at it from the top, he saw the object that Yuan was referring to. Putting the book back on the table again, Kratos opened it to the page where the object in question was located. It was a rectangular-shaped emblem with some sort of flower carved onto it. "This is..."

"What is that?" Yuan asked as he tried to get a closer look.

"That flower looks familiar..." Keele added as he too tried to take a closer look.

Standing up quickly, Kratos grabbed the emblem, closed his book and picked it up with his other hand. "I'm going to Ymir Forest."

"Why?" Keele asked as he turned to look at Kratos heading towards the door.

"I don't suppose you want either of us to come along," Yuan commented. And it wasn't a question.

"No, I have to go alone," Kratos replied as he reached for the door knob. "I've already checked the entire village using aura, but I still need the two of you check on the other elves to be absolutely sure if we have any casualties yet."

"All right," both Yuan and Keele nodded.

OoOoOoO

_"I'm giving this to you." _

_"But Master, this was given to you by the fairies, and only elven healers are allowed to have one, I can't just take it..." _

_"Yes, but true healers amongst the elves are almost non-existent. They're all getting too selfish and self-centred. Besides, this will become useless once I pass on, but you won't, and I'm sure it will help you one day."_

The sounds of chirping birds, scurrying animals and rustling leaves rang all around Kratos as he made his way through Ymir Forest. While Kratos made sure that he didn't get in the way of any of them, not like he needed to anyway since animals tend to avoid him, he didn't have time to appreciate the forest scenery right now. The healer needed to hurry to a particular location in Ymir Forest as soon as possible.

"Where are you headed?"

Kratos turned to look over at the direction where the voice came from. There, he found a small fox-cub-like animal sitting on his right shoulder. It had blue and green colored tails and a bell was hanging from around its neck. The form had surprised the summoner a little.

"Verius?" Kratos asked while he slowed his walking pace. While the high summoner could tell it was Verius sitting on his shoulder from the Summon Spirit of Heart's aura, he still wanted to make sure.

"Yes, I am Verius. Is something wrong?"

"The lesser form you're using, it's the same as Corrine..."

"Yes. Though my true form is Verius, Corrine is still me, just without the memories I had with Sheena. It was their friendship that awakened me. Summoner Sheena understands that and had already come to terms with it. Besides, I kind of like what Aska is doing with this lesser form stuff, so I wanted to try it out. I only used Corrine's form because it looked similar to my true form and it was the only one I could think of."

"I'm just worried, memories can be a very difficult thing to deal with sometimes..." Kratos muttered as he quickened his pace.

"It will be fine. So, where are you headed?"

"Lake Cryst," Kratos replied as he stopped at a junction on the path he was walking on. Raising the emblem in his left hand, Kratos pointed it at each of the different paths. The emblem glowed in reaction to one of the paths, and that was the one Kratos needed to use.

"Isn't that the lake where it's said the fairies live?" Verius asked as Kratos went in the direction the emblem had indicated.

"Yes. During my training with Master Boltzman, he told me about the fairies. He said fairies have healing capabilities that are similar to the unicorn. Only elven healers are allowed to have this emblem, but he gave his to me."

"You're going to try asking them for help to cure the elves of Heimdall."

"Yes, but I'm not sure if they'll extend their help to a human healer like me..."

"Don't worry, it will all work out. It's all about what's truly in your heart. Besides, I'm here too. I will intervene if I need to."

Kratos stopped once he reached a clearing on the path he was walking along. A lake could be seen further down. Walking towards it and stopping once he's near the bank of the lake, Kratos raised the emblem he was holding. The emblem glowed in response to the aura that surrounded Lake Cryst, causing the lake itself to glow too.

After a few moments, three balls of light emerged from the lake. The balls of light slowly formed into shapes of miniature beings which looked similar to humans but with pointed ears. Light blue-colored wings sprouted from their backs. All three of them wore white-colored dresses, though they each had different colored hair. The one at the right had blue hair, the middle with green hair and the left with yellow hair.

"Who summoned us?" The blue-haired one spoke.

"Sis! It's a human!" The yellow-haired one shrieked.

"Why does a human have our emblem!" The green-haired one hissed as she noticed the emblem Kratos was holding in his hand. "We only give those to elven healers!"

"Miss...um, fairies, please calm down!" Kratos exclaimed as he lowered the emblem. "I mean you no harm. I'm merely here to seek your help to cure the sick elves back at Heimdall."

"The elves at Heimdall are sick?" The blue-haired one asked as she turned to regard Kratos. It seemed like she was willing to listen to what Kratos wanted to say.

"Sis! Don't just believe what he says!" The green-haired one exclaimed. "For all we know he had killed one of the healers at Heimdall and taken that emblem from him!"

"Not only that, I'm sensing the power of an extremely powerful Exsphere from him," The yellow-haired one said as she kept her eyes on Kratos. "There is no doubt that what he possesses is a Cruxis Crystal. And when someone has a Cruxis Crystal..."

"Stop, both of you!" The blue-haired fairy snapped. "I am aware that he uses a Cruxis Crystal, but if he meant us any harm, he would have attacked us once we appeared. Shouldn't we at least give him the benefit of doubt and hear what he has to say?"

The other two fairies immediately went silent. The blue-haired fairy flew forward such that she was in-front of her sisters, and addressed Kratos once more. "You said that the elves of Heimdall are sick?"

"Yes," Kratos nodded in reply. "I have come across this sickness before and I know how to cure it, but I lack the power to use the healing spell necessary to do it. Other than possessing Undine's power, I also need an item similar in power to the Unicorn Horn to amplify the body's life force to cast it. My master told me that the fairies had a power similar to a unicorn, thus I came seeking your help."

"I see. So you're a summoner and a healer. That explains the aura I feel from you. But that doesn't explain how you came to possess our emblem. We only give those to elven healers for various reasons."

"My master is the one who gave it to me," Kratos explained as he gripped the emblem tighter. "He's an elf. The only reason I possess the knowledge and power as a healer which I do now is thanks to him."

"An elven healer was the one that trained you? Interesting. Not many elves are willing to train humans or half-elves to be proficient healers. Who was your master if I may ask?"

"Callius Boltzman," Kratos replied.

"The Legendary Healer Boltzman was your teacher?" The green-haired fairy exclaimed. "You expect us to believe that an accomplished and well-known healer like Boltzman was the one that trained you, a human? Not only that, one that possesses a Cruxis Crystal?"

"My sister is right," The blue-haired fairy replied, regarding the summoner with disbelief. "You being a summoner is something that I can sense from your aura, but mere words coming from you claiming that you're the apprentice of Boltzman is something that we can't believe easily."

"I don't know how I can convince you to believe what I've just said, all I can tell you is everything I've said is the truth. My desire to help cure the elves is something that I'm doing of my own volition. I'm not doing it for any personal gain."

"That still doesn't convince us to believe you!" The yellow-haired fairy exclaimed this time. "They are still nothing but mere words!"

Kratos had no reply to that. Even after all he had said, nothing was going to convince the fairies otherwise. He knew that this was going to be difficult, but he had no idea it was going to be this tough.

Sensing Kratos's distress, Verius rested a paw on the summoner's cheek. Kratos turned to look at the summon spirit in response. "I'll handle this," Verius whispered and then turned to address the fairies. "I can prove to you that Kratos is telling the truth."

The fairies turned in surprise at the talking fox cub. They had thought that the animal was Kratos's pet, but apparently they were wrong.

"Who are you?" The blue-haired fairy asked.

"I am Verius, Summon Spirit of Heart, one of the Greater Summon Spirits. Kratos Aurion is my pact-maker. The situation at Heimdall is quite dire, and Kratos really needs your help. But since you wouldn't be convinced so easily that he's telling you the truth, I had to step in."

The fairies looked intently at the summon spirit before the blue-haired one finally replied. "Very well. How do you intend to prove what he says is true?"

"I have the power to see into a person's true memories," Verius explained. "I can also show said memories to anyone else. If I show you his memories, then it can prove what he's saying is the truth, can it not?"

The fairies fell silent for a moment, gathered around and pondered on what Verius just said. Kratos got a little nervous from that. He knew Verius had such a power, but having it used on him was a bit nerve-wreaking, so to speak.

"It's all right, I will only show them what needs to be shown," Verius whispered, sensing Kratos's unease. "You don't have to worry."

"It's all right, Verius..." Kratos muttered in reply. "I trust you."

It seemed like forever but the three fairies finally turned back and addressed them once again. "All right, the three of us agree to your suggestion, Summon Spirit Verius. It would be quite impudent of us to not trust the words of a Greater Summon Spirit," The blue-haired fairy spoke.

Acknowledging their words of agreement, Verius leapt from Kratos's shoulder and in a flash of light, returned to his original form. Stepping in-between Kratos and the fairies, Verius summoned a glyph which encircled all five of them. The glyph glowed as Verius did what was agreed between them. After about five minutes, Verius stopped and the glyph disappeared.

"I have shown all of you what needs to be seen. If you still doubt my pact-maker now, it would be as good as sending an entire village of elves to their deaths."

The three fairies fell silent. Still in disbelief, the three of them gathered around once more and started discussing amongst themselves. After about a minute of whispering, the three fairies finally turned to face the summoner and summon spirit. The blue-haired fairy flew forward and addressed Kratos. "We're sorry for doubting your words. You had no malicious intent and came here to seek our help so that you can help others."

"It's all right," Kratos said while bowing slightly. "Master Boltzman often told me about how you fairies had your customs and it is within your right to be suspicious of me. But I had no other choice and had to try asking you for help. I'm just glad that you had even listened to me."

"You are quite humble and do not think twice about helping others, regardless of their race. Healers such as yourself and Boltzman are getting hard to come by nowadays. In fact, they could be considered as endangered species. I can see why Boltzman chose you to inherit his legacy. He saw that trait in you and knew that you would put his knowledge to good use, despite who you were. He has chosen well."

"You speak too highly of me. I'm not as strong as Master."

"Indeed," the blue-haired fairy replied. "But that hasn't stopped you. And that is why, just like Boltzman, we feel that we can entrust the physical manifestation of our power to you. It will strengthen your healing power and it shouldn't be a problem for you to use even stronger healing magic with it."

"I thank you for agreeing to help," Kratos said as he bowed again as an act of sincerity. "I will use the power you grant me well."

With that, the blue-haired fairy nodded and the other two fairies joined her. "Now, raise your hand."

Kratos obeyed and raised his right hand. Surrounding the hand which the summoner had raised, the three fairies raised both of their hands, targeting Kratos's wrist. The hands of the three fairies started to glow at the same time. Within the next few seconds, a flash of light appeared and disappeared just as quickly. Once the light cleared, it revealed a silver-colored bangle with a red-colored rectangular-shaped gem set in it.

"This is the fairy Tear," the blue-haired fairy said as the three of them retreated side-by-side. "You will be able to use much stronger healing spells now. Just make use of that knowledge which you possess."

"Thank you," Kratos said once again.

"We should hurry back to Heimdall," Verius urged as he turned to face Kratos. "The elves need help."

Kratos nodded in agreement. Turning in the opposite direction, Kratos started running, making his way back to the elven village as quickly as possible. Verius decided not to remain with Kratos for now and disappeared in a flash of light.

OoOoOoO

"Are all the elves still okay?"

"Yes, they're still alive," Keele replied, nodding.

"The elves which I've checked are still okay for now," Yuan added.

As per Kratos's order, both Yuan and Keele had went to every single house in Heimdall to check and see if any of the elves had succumbed to the disease. Yuan checked one half of the village while Keele took the other half. They were to meet back at the village square when they were done. Fortunately, every single one of them were still hanging in there.

"Now we just need to wait for Kratos to come back," Yuan continued after a few moments of silence between them. "I wonder where he went."

"Ah!" Keele exclaimed suddenly. It gave Yuan a shock and the half-elf double-backed from the sudden outburst because it had been a bit too loud. It was worse for him due to his more sensitive hearing.

"Whoa, watch your volume, I have sensitive hearing, you almost killed my eardrums there," Yuan grumbled.

"I'm sorry," Keele apologised. "It's just that I remembered where I had seen the flower on Kratos's emblem before."

"And where is that?" Yuan asked. That got him curious.

"That flower only grows at Lake Cryst located at Ymir Forest," Keele replied. "Lake Cryst is where the fairies live."

"fairies?" Yuan repeated, a bit surprised at what Keele had said. "Why would Kratos go and look for the fairies?"

"I'm not sure," Keele replied. "I'm actually as clueless as you are. I have no idea what fairies can do."

Just then, Yuan picked out someone calling his name from afar. And he recognised that voice. "Looks like Kratos is back."

"Eh?" Keele asked, surprised. "But I don't see him anywhere."

"Of course not," Yuan replied as he started walking towards the exit in Heimdall that lead to the Ymir Forest. Keele, who was still confused, decided to follow him. "He's still quite a distance away, but he called my name and my angelic hearing picked it up."

"Oh..." Keele muttered in reply. "Must be pretty convenient to be able to hear things from far away."

"Not when you have people yelling right into your ear," Yuan remarked sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," Keele apologised again. "I got a bit excited..."

It wasn't long before Kratos was finally in sight. The summoner stopped running once he was in-front of the half-elf and elf.

"Did you find a solution?" Yuan asked as he crossed his arms, waiting for an answer.

"Let's go over to the Elf Elder's house," Kratos simply replied. He quickly walked past the both of them without saying anything else. Both Yuan and Keele followed without asking further questions.

It only took them about a minute or so to reach the Elf Elder's house once again. Knocking on the door to announce that they were coming in, Kratos opened the door and stepped inside, with Yuan and Keele following behind. Yuan closed the door to the house since he was the last one in, and walked over to where Kratos and Keele were. Keele was feeling a bit anxious, wondering what was happening while Kratos knelt down beside the bed.

"Elder, are you okay?" Kratos asked.

"Yes... Did you get a cure...?"

Kratos simply nodded as he raised both his hands to prepare to cast a spell. Whispering the spell's incantation, a sphere of light began to form between Kratos's hands and the Elf Elder's body in response to the healing mana that had started gathering.

_**"Undine."**_

**"I've already created the link you need to fully use water's healing properties."**

_**"All right. Thank you."**_

Continuing to utter the spell's incantation, the gem on his newly acquired fairy Tear started glowing in response to it. It was then Yuan noticed the bangle on Kratos's right wrist. He knew his best friend never had that before. Yuan guessed it must have been something Kratos had acquired when he went to Ymir Forest just now.

"Aqua Restore..." Kratos muttered as he completed the spell. A small glyph appeared with Kratos's hands at the centre. The power of the healing spell washed over the Elf Elder's body and the glyph disappeared a few seconds later.

"Did it work?" Keele asked quickly, anxiety clearly showing in his voice.

"He's been cured of the disease, but his body is still weak," Kratos replied as he searched for something in his pack.

"Don't worry, young elf," the Elf Elder said slowly. "I'm feeling much better already. The pain is gone and I'm feeling less tired now. I'll be fine after a proper rest."

"That's a relief..."

Kratos pulled out what he was looking for from his pack. Apparently what he had been looking for was a bottle of pills. "I need a glass of water," Kratos remarked as he used his free hand and checked the Elf Elder's pulse. Keele immediately scrambled over to where the water jug was and filled an empty glass with water.

Kratos was feeling for any traces of a fever after he was done checking the Elder's pulse. Keele had returned with a glass of water in hand and stood there, awaiting more instructions. "The fever has subsided and his pulse is returning to normal," Kratos commented as he stood up. Opening the cover of the pill bottle in his hand, the healer popped a pill out from it and handed it to Keele. "Give this to him, it will help his body recover faster."

Keele nodded as he did what he was told. Kratos grabbed his pack and tossed the bottle of pills in Yuan's direction which the half-elf caught swiftly. "Let's go and heal the other elves," Kratos said as he made his way to the door. Yuan knew that Kratos had passed the bottle of pills to him as an indication that the healer wanted the half-elf to help him and thus, followed behind.

OoOoOoO

"Are you sure we should just leave like that? While the other elves wouldn't care, since they would love for us to be gone as quickly as possible, but the Elf Elder does. And what about Keele? I thought you wanted to help him."

Kratos sighed as he brushed his hand over his hair. "This is about all I can do about Keele. Without knowing more about him and his past, and his unwillingness to talk, I don't think I can really do much. I really do not want you to be feeling miserable from the words and glares of these elves. Besides, we don't have any business here anyway."

Yuan merely gave Kratos 'the look' that only the summoner understood.

"Fine. At least we don't have any business here, _yet_. As for Keele, let's leave it for when we need to come back to Heimdall."

"I still don't like it," Yuan replied, indignant. "I can always stay indoors."

"Oh? In a non-existent house?"

"There's Keele's house you know."

"There's not enough room."

"Argh, fine. We'll go. But we're not camping out tonight. My computer's weather scanner is predicting rain."

"The nearest town isn't that far you know," Kratos replied, sighing. "Come on."

However, just before they turned to leave, the two seraphim heard someone calling their names. A few seconds later, they find a panting Keele in-front of them.

"The...Elf Elder...was...right... He said...that you two...would leave...as soon as...you're done... He asked...me to stop...you two...before...you left... He wants...to see...the both...of you..."

"Now why does the Elder want to see us?" Kratos said, wondering out loud. "I really do not wish to cause any problems for him."

"He said it's fine," Keele replied as he finally caught his breath. "He said he had something important to tell you two."

Kratos turned to seek Yuan's thoughts on the matter but the half-elf simply shrugged. Wondering what the Elf Elder wanted, Kratos turned back to Keele. "We'll go see him. Keele, you should go back to your house and rest. Your body is still recovering."

"I will," Keele nodded.

OoOoOoO

It didn't take long for the two seraphim to arrive at the doorstep of the Elf Elder's house for the third time today. Knocking on the door to announce their presence, Kratos opened it and quickly slipped inside with Yuan just one step behind him. Yuan closed the door as soon as he was inside. There, they found the Elf Elder sitting up on his bed.

"I'm glad to see you recovering already, Elder," Kratos commented. "You wanted to speak to us?"

"Yes," the Elf Elder replied as he pointed to the table that was nearby. "Please, have a seat."

The Elf Elder waited until both seraphim were seated before continuing. "First, on behalf of the elves of Heimdall, I wanted to thank you for your assistance in our time of need. I also want to apologise in advance for any ungratefulness and hostility some of them will show."

"It's all right," Kratos replied. "People don't change their opinion on certain subjects overnight."

"Yes, but some are more understanding than others," the Elf Elder agreed. "But in your case, being former Heroes of the Kharlan War and Cruxis Angels certainly doesn't help things."

"I'm glad that I was at least able to change your opinion though. It's not much, but it's a small step."

"Yes," the Elf Elder nodded in agreement. "If the leader sets a good example, the others will eventually follow."

"That isn't always true, but it's the first step if you want to change something."

"Elder," Yuan started after a few moments of silence. "Keele said you had something important to tell us."

"Ah, that's right. I almost forgot," the Elder replied. "Do you remember the elf that was with me when you saved us a few years back at Latheon Gorge?"

Kratos nodded. "His name is Alvin, isn't it?"

"That's right," the Elf Elder confirmed. "Actually, he runs the inn in Heimdall. He wants the two of you to stay the night as a gesture of thanks for saving him and me a few years back and helping the elves today."

"Wow, the world must be coming to an end. An elf willingly showing gratitude," Yuan remarked sarcastically. However, that comment earned the half-elf a blast of Wind Blade, which he knew was cast by Kratos, barely missing him. Yuan knew it missed him on purpose as he knew very well the summoner's control over wind magic. The half-elf dared not say anymore lest Kratos decided to throw a water spell in his face.

"Haha, don't worry, I take no offense from that," the Elf Elder chuckled as he saw what happened. "After all, it's true. However, I think it's about time the elves changed. The world isn't going to change if we're unwilling to change ourselves. It will be hard, but I don't think it's impossible."

"I'm glad you think that way," Yuan hmphed as he crossed his arms. "There's hope yet."

"I will do my best."

"Elder," Kratos said as he leaned to the side and rested his arm on the table. "Besides letting us know about the lodgings being offered to us, it seems like there is something else you wanted to tell us."

"You're as sharp as always, Kratos," the Elder nodded in reply. "Actually, it's more of a request, and I hope you will agree to it."

"As long as it isn't something ridiculous, I guess I can consider."

"I'll go straight to the point then," the Elf Elder replied as he shifted his hands a little. "Keele told me that you two are on a journey to seek the summon spirits. I know not for what reason, but I'd like for you two to take him along."

To tell the truth, Kratos wasn't at all surprised at the request. It was almost as if he knew something like this would happen. Not wanting to give an answer just yet, Kratos turned to look over at Yuan. When the half-elf realised that his best friend was looking at him, seemingly in an attempt to seek his opinion, Yuan simply shrugged in reply. It was Kratos's call to make, not his.

Sighing, Kratos turned back to face the Elf Elder and asked, "Why?"

"I think Keele's skills would benefit the two of you with whatever you're doing," the Elder replied, stroking his beard. "Just like his father, Keele is a highly skilled archer. Not only that, he is also quite proficient with magic."

"That is not what I meant," Kratos replied, not very convinced by the Elf Elder's words. "I've only met Keele yesterday, and within such a short period of time, his aura, words and actions have told me a lot of things. He doesn't trust anyone, feels jealous towards Yuan and I, and has no regard for his own life. These actions all point towards a scarred past, a past he isn't strong enough to overcome. I need a better reason than 'his skills would benefit us' to convince me to take him along."

The Elf Elder fell silent for the moment, thinking about Kratos's words. It was almost like he was trying to decide whether to tell them everything or not, and having a hard time doing so.

"I had a short conversation with Keele a few hours ago," Yuan started as he couldn't endure the indecision any longer. "He told me that his mother died after giving birth to him and his father was killed by the Desians."

Kratos was a bit surprised that Yuan had managed to learn about this piece of information. He turned to look over at Yuan for an answer. "That was before you came over to Keele's house."

After a few more moments of silence, the Elf Elder finally spoke, gathering the attention of the two seraphim once again. "Very well. While it is really not my position to tell you this, but for Keele's sake, I will tell you what happened to him in the past."

The Elf Elder waited for about a minute before continuing. "As Yuan had found out, Keele's mother died after giving birth due to complications during the delivery. Our healers managed to save the baby, but not her life. So Keele grew up without his mother. His father, Dynos was the one who raised him. However, when Keele was about five years old, a Desian Grand Cardinal had come to Heimdall seeking an elf for an experiment called the Angelus Project. There wasn't anyone that could stand up to the power of a Desian Grand Cardinal, so in order to protect the village and the elves from being attacked, Dynos offered himself."

Clenching the fist of his arm that was on the table, Kratos flinched slightly at the mention of the Angelus Project. The slight movement did not go unnoticed by Yuan however. At least he now knew about the elf that was used as a test subject for the Angelus Project when he had came across the data while hacking into Kvar's Angelus Project research information to find out more. But to discover the one who's family was ruined by it...

The Elf Elder cleared his throat before he continued. "Ever since that day Dynos was taken away, the elves had all been very unfriendly and constantly mocked and bullied Keele. The only thing I could do was to take care of him and protect him as much as I could. I felt it was my responsibility since Dynos offered himself in-order to protect the rest of us. Dynos...he had always been selfless and held no prejudice against anyone, elf or not, and taught Keele similarly. However, about two years later, Dynos had returned to Heimdall. He told me what happened. Someone from within their ranks had freed a few of the prisoners from the ranch he was in, and helped him to escape back to Tethe'alla. He was carrying the Exsphere that was used on him in the experiments at the ranch, and it had already been fitted with a Key Crest and removed safely. At that time, Keele was so happy to have his father back."

The Elf Elder stopped momentarily while he drank some water before continuing. "Even though Dynos was back, Keele was still constantly being bullied. But he didn't care. He was happy that the person he had always looked up to all his life was back. That was all it mattered to him. Until one day, the Desians came back, looking for the escaped Dynos and the Exsphere. I had tried to convince them that Dynos did not come back to Heimdall, but the other elves, fearing the threats from the Desians, gave no second thought on telling them where he was. Even as the Elf Elder, I was unable to do anything to stop this. Even though Dynos had fought back, he was outnumbered. He simply could not take on all of them by himself, and was killed. However, the Desians never did manage to find the Exsphere which Dynos had brought back with him. Luckily, the Desian Grand Cardinal that lead them had decided that it wasn't important and left, since they had punished the one that had escaped."

The Elf Elder stopped once more and drank more water. "A few hours after that had happened, I found that Keele had somehow managed to sneak into my house unnoticed. Then he showed me the Exsphere that the Desians had been looking for. It turned out that before the Desians had came to their house, Dynos had given the Exsphere to Keele and told him to hide, and not to make any noise nor show himself no matter what happened. Even as he saw his father dying right in-front of him from where he hid, Keele had remained steadfast and kept himself hidden and protected the Exsphere."

"So, that's where his Exsphere came from," Yuan commented as he shifted slightly.

"Yes," the Elf Elder nodded. "I told Keele to keep it as a memento of his father as it's the last thing left to him before he died. A few days later, I found out that Keele had decided to use the Exsphere and had started training with it equipped. Dynos was the strongest elf in Heimdall, and Keele wanted to be like him, thus he started devoting a lot of his time to training, on top of learning how to take care of himself."

"That's strange," Kratos muttered. "If Keele had trained himself to fight, then I have no doubt that he's quite capable of standing his ground when needed, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to even reach where Undine was. But why is he still constantly being bullied and mocked by the other elves if he can easily beat them in a fight?"

"That's because Keele chose not to fight back," the Elf Elder replied, stroking his beard in thought. "Dynos had taught him to use his power to protect himself only when his life was threatened, and to help or protect others. His life was never threatened whenever that happens, thus he never fought back."

"Huh..." Kratos muttered. Yuan knew Kratos had a different opinion about a subject such as this, that's why he was thinking about it. Leaving Kratos to his own devices, Yuan turned back to the Elf Elder. There was something he wanted to ask.

"If you don't mind, Elf Elder, there's something I want to ask you," Yuan started.

"Feel free to," the Elf Elder nodded.

"After finding out about the Angelus Project, I hacked into the database belonging to the Desian Grand Cardinal for information. I had came across information that he had used an elf for his experiments. It's clear from your story that Dynos was that elf. The truth is, that ranch escape you mentioned was something that was staged by both Kratos and I, and Dynos was one of the captives that was freed. Also, it was the Renegades, which was lead by me, that sent him back to Tethe'alla. But, there was also a human woman with him at that time, which Dynos had insisted that he bring with him back to Tethe'alla. Do you know anything about that woman?"

The Elf Elder thought about Yuan's question while he stroked his beard at the same time. "You must be talking about Mary. That's the only human woman Dynos has ever mentioned to me about. I've also seen her a few times."

"What's her relationship with Dynos?"

"Well, they were lovers. She was someone Dynos met at the ranch and they fell in love. The first time I met Mary, she was already pregnant with his child. But due to the laws of Heimdall, I cannot allow her nor their child to stay here, thus she had to stay somewhere else outside of Heimdall. Dynos occasionally visited her to make sure she and their child were fine. Although, after Dynos's death, Mary had sent me a letter to tell me that she was going to move away to somewhere else just in case the Desians find her. After all, she was also a ranch escapee and didn't want to cause us any trouble."

"Wait, Keele has a half-brother? Does he know about this?" Yuan asked, surprised at the revelation.

"Yes," the Elf Elder nodded. "In fact, Keele always went with Dynos whenever he visited her. That was one of the reasons Keele had devoted a lot of his time to training. To one day go out and find them. However, for a person like him, it's difficult to travel alone, that's why I took this opportunity to ask you two to take him along."

"Hmmmm..."

"At this point, I've told you all that I can tell you," the Elf Elder said as he poured more water for himself. "I really hope that you will take him along. I also believe that you two are probably the only ones that can break that wall he has around him..."

Yuan remained silent as he turned to look over at Kratos. As the half-elf had gestured earlier, he wasn't going to be the one to make the decision. Kratos had somehow shifted his pose while Yuan wasn't paying attention and was now resting his head on his left fist with his arm on the table as support. His right leg was crossed over on top of his left. It looked like Kratos was still thinking about something, but Yuan knew that the summoner was paying attention when he asked about the human woman he was curious about.

Kratos finally moved and sat upright, bringing down his left arm to rest on the table. Uncrossing his legs, he slowly started standing up. It looked like Kratos was ready to give his answer. "All right, I will take Keele along, but only if he is willing to come."

OoOoOoO

"This Alvin let us have a pretty nice room," Yuan commented as he looked around and carefully absorbed his surroundings. The room was arranged specially for only two people to stay, thus there were only two beds which were placed side-by-side, separated by a lamp table in-between. One of the beds was nearer to the window, which was claimed by Kratos since he had popped into the room first, and Yuan took the other. There was a large cupboard standing against the wall opposite of the beds and a table with two chairs beside the cupboard. A little bit further down towards the door into this room, laid the entrance to the bathroom. The walls were painted with a shade of light green color.

Yuan turned to look over at Kratos after realising that his best friend apparently wasn't paying attention to him or his surroundings. Kratos was lying down on his bed with his arms crossed under his head and was staring at the ceiling.

Wondering what could be on his mind, Yuan got up from his bed and walked over. Resting his arms on the side of Kratos's bed and using them as support, Yuan peered over the summoner's face. "A penny for your thoughts?"

No reply. Kratos simply continued staring into space. While Yuan was pretty sure that Kratos was aware of his presence, the half-elf hated not knowing what his friend was thinking.

Finally, after what felt like minutes, Kratos sighed and promptly declared, "I'm going for a walk."

Yuan stood straight up with his arms akimbo and muttered, "Oh, decided to leave me here all alone?"

Kratos quickly sat up on his bed and looked over at Yuan. "What, going to be lonely without me?"

"Not a chance!" Yuan replied adamantly. "You can go for your walk for as long as you like. Just leave your navigator here. There's something I want to work on."

Kratos sighed. Reaching for the pouch where he had kept his navigator, the summoner pulled out it and placed it on Yuan's already outstretched hand. Taking the navigator, Yuan moved himself over to the table that was in the room, pulled one of the chairs over and sat down on it.

Not wishing to exchange anymore words with his best friend, Kratos got out of bed and saw himself out of the room.

OoOoOoO

Kratos took a casual stroll through the village of Heimdall. There were the occasional stares from the elves over in his direction, but he paid them no heed. There was no need to waste his energy on them. He didn't want his stroll disturbed by people that weren't worth his time. While Kratos had no particular destination in mind nor was he out here sightseeing, he knew what he was looking for.

Even though Heimdall wasn't a very big place, Kratos didn't end up finding what he was looking for even after strolling through the entire village. When he decided to just go over to Keele's house, he sensed the aura of someone familiar and his angelic hearing picked up the sounds of insults being hurled at someone.

Keele was being pinned against a tree by a couple of elves. However, he made no move to fight back.

"Did you think just because you helped save Heimdall that we would be grateful to you! You filthy elf!"

"I don't even know why the Elf Elder let you stay here! You always bring misfortune to us all! Why is it that everyone but you in Heimdall got sick!"

"Perhaps you had put a curse on us for revenge!"

"I...did no such thing..." Keele muttered. "I don't even know why I wasn't affected..."

"Oh really? You're lying! You know what? I think that the power of that Exsphere is what cursed us!"

"Let's just take it away from him so that it won't cause anymore problems for us!"

"No...don't touch it!" Keele said defiantly as one of the two elves reached for his hand where the Exsphere was. "I won't let you take it..."

"What? What are you going to do about it? Are you going to fight back? Like you can beat us! After all, that Exsphere is just for show!"

"No!" Keele yelled as he forcefully pushed both elves away. "I won't let you take the last thing my dad left for me!"

"So, you're going to fight back now? You think you can beat us!" One of the two elves threw a punch at Keele's chest, knocking him back against the tree. Subsequently, the other elf followed suit. "Not so tough now? Why don't you fight back some more!"

Keele gritted his teeth against the pain as the two elves continued to punch him, not intending to fight back at all. He just let them do what they wanted, until a blast of wind threw both of the attacking elves back.

"What's this? Two against one isn't exactly fair."

The two elves recovered from the blast of wind quickly and turned to look at the owner of the voice. "Who are you! This is none of your business!"

"Interesting," Kratos replied in an amused tone. "I thought the Heroes of the Kharlan War were famous around here, and you're asking who I am?" Then Kratos shrugged. "Whatever. To answer your second question, it is my business when you're beating up someone who risked his life to help you all and hasn't fully recovered from his injuries. As the healer that's treating his injuries, he is under my care until he's fully recovered."

"Hero of the Kharlan War! So what? Not as if you can kill us! You're on our home turf!" One of the elves spat and decided to charge at Kratos. However, Kratos merely sidestepped the charge making the elf rush past him harmlessly.

The other elf decided to follow suit with attacking Kratos, throwing a punch in his direction. However, the summoner tilted his head to the side, causing the punch to miss. The same elf followed up with another punch using his other hand, but Kratos sidestepped the second punch this time, which was thrown with more force, causing the elf to lose his balance and collapse in a heap on the ground. At that point, the first elf that attacked Kratos had recovered and tried to cast a spell. However, that did not go unnoticed by Kratos. Before the spell even finished, Kratos was already behind the elf and gave him a karate chop to his back, causing the elf to lose concentration and fall over onto the ground.

"So predictable," Kratos mocked as he crossed his arms, looking intimidatingly over at the two elves on the ground. "Compared to Keele, you wouldn't even last one minute against Undine if you were in his shoes and had went to find a cure for the elves instead."

The two elves stood up and glared hatefully at Kratos, as if trying to kill him with their glare. But Kratos remained unfazed. For him, dealing with people like that was nothing. Very few things in this world frightened him, and bullies certainly ain't one of them.

"Still want to fight?" Kratos taunted, not moving from his position nor pose.

The two elves charged Kratos at the same time. Sighing, Kratos dropped his arms just as they were nearing him. The summoner leapt into the air, performed a somersault, and landed gracefully behind them. By the time the two elves even realised what had happened, they slammed into the tree that was behind Kratos before he moved out of the way and fell unconscious.

All this while, Keele had remained at his position and watched things unfold before him. The elf was dumbstruck at the way Kratos had dealt with the two elves that were bullying him. Not even once the summoner had drew his sword, nor had he even reached for it.

"It's pretty easy to deal with these kind of people you know," Kratos commented as he approached Keele. "They're all brawn and no brain."

"I'm...sorry..." Keele muttered, grasping his waist with his right arm in pain. "I thought defending yourself meant having to use your weapon... I didn't want to hurt anyone by accident..."

"There is more than one way to defend yourself. It just depends on the situation and what you're dealing with."

"It seemed like you're very used to doing that though... You didn't even flinch..."

"Oh, that," Kratos chuckled. "Yuan got bullied a lot when we were younger for being kind of puny and a half-elf. You could say I've had lots of practice."

"I don't think I can imagine that happening..." Keele laughed softly. "Yuan looks pretty tough."

"Oh, make no mistake, he is tough, he just didn't have the strength to match that toughness," Kratos replied as he reached out with his arms and took a hold of Keele. "Come on, I'm taking you back to your house."

OoOoOoO

Keele watched silently as Kratos healed his wounds from just now. While the bruises weren't anything serious, they still hurt. Thanks to his training and Exsphere, it was impossible for Keele to get seriously injured from attacks like that. But every time he was beaten up, he would be in pain from the bruises and even with the proper treatment, they still took at least two days to heal. Every time that happened, Keele wished that he could use healing magic as none of the elves that were able to use healing magic would even give him a second glance. Thus he always suffered with the pain. Even though he was already used to it, the bruises still hurt. Imagine the relief Keele felt as the pain went away after Kratos's healing spell healed them.

"Thanks. Such a coincidence," Keele laughed meekly. "For you to run into me during such a situation..."

"This isn't a coincidence," Kratos replied as he leaned backwards with his arms supporting the weight of his body. They were currently sitting on Keele's bed. "I was looking for you."

"You were looking for me?" Keele repeated. He was taken aback by Kratos's reply. "Why?"

"The Elf Elder wants you to come with us."

"What! Why?" Keele exclaimed in surprise.

"Because he told us that you wanted to look for your brother," Kratos replied, unmoving from his position.

"Oh, he told you about that, huh..." Keele muttered, trailing off as he turned to stare at the floor of his room. "I guess he told you everything then..."

"Keele," Kratos started, giving out a barely audible sigh. "We all have our ups and downs in life. How you deal with it after that is what's important. That is why having friends you can rely on is important. They are the ones that help you overcome your problems, and in turn, you help them."

"Friends, huh? Never once in my life I had a friend I could rely on, that's why I believed that I could only trust myself..."

"Well, if you'll allow us to, Yuan and I can be your friends," Kratos replied as he sat upright again and turned to observe Keele. "That is, if you want to. After all, I told the Elf Elder that I will allow you to come with us only if you're willing to."

Keele was silent for a few moments as he pondered on what Kratos had said. "But you two are on a very important journey. I don't want to become a hindrance..."

"A hindrance?" Kratos scoffed and crossed his arms. "A person is only a hindrance to others if they allow themselves to be."

"But I..."

"I can tell you have strong magical capabilities," Kratos cut in, without letting the elf say anything else further. "Your magical prowess will be very useful to us."

Keele remained silent. He was twiddling his thumbs as if trying to decide what to do. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do. This was a golden opportunity for him to finally leave Heimdall to do what he wants to do. Being able to travel with two people who are well versed with the ways of the world will help him look for his half-brother. And yet, part of him was hesitating as he didn't want to slow either seraph down on their journey, which was by far more important than his reason to travel.

"You don't have to decide right now," Kratos said, breaking the silence as he stood up and prepared to leave. "I was just looking for you to let you know what the Elf Elder had told us. We'll be leaving late in the morning tomorrow. Come find us by the gates if you decide to come."

OoOoOoO

"Had a nice walk?"

"Oh, it was quite entertaining, to say the least. I haven't dealt with bullies in a while. And I managed to get a hold of some plants that only grew around Heimdall."

"Sounds like fun."

"Because I haven't had to defend you for a really long time."

"Oh? Did you miss defending me against bullies?"

"Not a chance. It means I don't have to look after you anymore."

"Aw, you hurt my feelings," Yuan remarked sarcastically and turned over to look at Kratos. The half-elf was over at the table in the room still tinkering with both their navigators. His tools laid scattered all over the top of the table.

"I don't really care," Kratos replied. He was sitting on his bed and flipping through a book on plants, not paying much heed to Yuan's antics.

It was currently nighttime at Heimdall and both seraphim were back at the inn. They had just finished taking their dinner and were merely going about doing their own stuff. It was still too early for them to sleep.

"You know, I just had a great idea," Yuan started as a wave of inspiration hit him.

"Hmm? I hope it isn't anything stupid," Kratos muttered as he lifted a pen to scribble something onto the pages of the book he was reading.

"Oh, you'll like it," Yuan replied with smiles written all over his face. "Perhaps I can make a portable plant pot that can be used to grow plants, vegetables and fruits while on the move. It can easily fit into people's luggage as it can be compacted, just like how we can put a lot of stuff into wing packs."

"You jest," Kratos replied, looking up from reading his book.

"I've been studying the technology behind the wing packs. I think it's possible," Yuan replied, shrugging.

"Well," Kratos said as he returned to reading his book. "I can help you try it out if you ever make one, I guess."

"Excellent! You shall be my unofficial tester!" Yuan remarked as he turned back to finish fixing up the navigators on the table.

"I've been your unofficial tester since the beginning of time," Kratos reminded the half-elf. "I've had your contraptions blowing up in my face one too many times."

"I'm surprised you haven't quit."

"Who told you to be my friend?"

"Better you than others, I guess. You were always quite resilient," Yuan chuckled as he screwed the covers of both the navigators shut. Then taking both of them in his hands, the half-elf walked over to where Kratos was. "I'll never understand your fascination with plants," Yuan remarked as he handed Kratos's navigator to him.

Kratos looked up, put the book down on his lap and took the navigator from Yuan. "And I'll never understand your fascination with magitechnology."

"Well, that means we're even," Yuan smiled as he went back over to his bed and sat down on it.

"What did you do to the navigators?" Kratos asked as he scrutinised the navigator in his hand, turning it around trying to find out what was different.

"Oh, I've added a communication function," Yuan replied as he pressed some buttons on his navigator. "Now we can both contact and communicate with each other via our navigators."

Kratos looked at his navigator when some sort of sound started beeping from it. Pressing a button on his navigator, Yuan's face popped up on the screen. "Hmm, this should come in handy if we need to split up."

"Of course, that's why I added it in," Yuan finished as he pressed a button on his navigator to cut the connection.

Kratos put away his navigator and resumed reading. Yuan looked over as he too put away his navigator. The half-elf knew that Kratos had been looking at the same book ever since dinner, as if the healer was on the verge of some sort of breakthrough.

"Trying to create some new potion?" Yuan asked as he took off his boots and brought his legs to rest on his bed.

"Not really," Kratos replied. "I haven't dealt with some of these plants in a while so I'm just refreshing my memory."

"Oh," Yuan replied as he rummaged through his pack. "I'm going to shower and then head to bed before you then."

"Yeah, sure."

OoOoOoO

"Dad... What should I do?" Keele muttered to himself. He was lying down on his bed and holding up a photo frame in his hands, staring at the photo that was framed in it. "Should I go with them and look for Dias? But I don't want to slow them down on their journey..."

Keele continued to stare at the photo for a few minutes until he heard a knock on his door. Placing the photo frame back onto the lamp table that was beside his bed, Keele got up from his bed and went to open the door. He was surprised to see who was outside, however.

"Elder! What brings you here? You should be resting!"

"Sorry for coming over so late, but I felt that I needed to talk to you," The Elf Elder replied. "Besides, I've more or less gotten my energy back. Kratos's medicine really works wonders."

"I'm glad to hear that," Keele replied. Then he gestured for the Elf Elder to come in. "Come in and take a seat then."

The Elf Elder complied, walked over to the table and sat on the chair. Keele followed suit after closing the door to his house.

"First things first," the Elf Elder started after Keele had sat down at the table. "I must apologize to you, as I've told Kratos and Yuan about your past."

"I know. Kratos already came to look for me."

"Oh, I see," the Elf Elder replied while stroking his beard as if in thought. "Nothing escapes his eye and he was hard to convince. If I didn't tell him anything, he wouldn't even have considered taking you along..."

"It's okay, Elder," Keele replied, sounding a bit sad at the same time. "You've always looked out for me when my father wasn't around and continued to do so even after he died. You only had my best interests at heart."

"Isn't that all the more reason you should go with them?" The Elf Elder replied. "I really do not wish to see you like this forever. Heimdall clearly isn't the place for you. Staying here will do you no good. You can accomplish so much more out there."

"I don't know, Elder... I really do not want to be a hindrance to them nor slow them down..."

"Did Kratos say that you would slow them down? Did he say that you would be a hindrance to them?"

Keele kept silent as he remembered what Kratos had told him. _'A person is only a hindrance to others if they allow themselves to be.'_ After a few more seconds of silence, Keele finally replied, "No."

"Then why are you hesitating?"

Keele had no reply to that question. Really, why was he hesitating? Out of fear of being a hindrance? Out of fear of being betrayed? Or out of fear that he wouldn't be able to find Dias?

_"No matter what happens Keele, you must continue to move forward. Do not trap yourself in the past just because you're afraid. You will never be able to accomplish anything this way."_

Those were his father's last words to him. The answer was so simple and yet he almost overlooked that fact. How could he have forgotten?

"I know what I need to do, Elder," Keele muttered as he clenched his fists tightly. "I feel so stupid right now. I'm giving up just because I was afraid. I'm sorry."

"Well, it's all right," the Elf Elder replied as he reached out to grasp one of Keele's clenched fists. "Just promise me you won't do it again."

Keele nodded. "This time, I won't forget. I promise."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

Oops. This chapter somehow went over 10,000 words, even though I mentioned in Chapter 1 that a chapter shouldn't exceed that number of words. Chapter 3 managed to say below 10,000, but I guess I had too much that I wanted to put in this chapter. But it's still shorter than the longest chapter in the old version of the fic. Though, with the way I've planned things, a chapter shouldn't be going over 20,000 words, I hope. However, the new version is still longer than the old version overall, since I've added a lot of stuff, expanded things and gave much more background story when compared to the old version, and completely re-written the scenes. So it would probably take a while before the new version finally reaches where the old version was, plot wise that is.

P.S. The portable plant pot idea actually came from the berry pot from Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver XD;


	5. Onwards to a new journey

**Dirge of Symphonia**

**Written by Rena Chan  
12103 words **

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Onwards to a new journey**

"I will not accept this! Exspheres are created through the lives of humans! Continuing to use them like this-"

"No, you listen here, Lloyd Irving! These Exspheres are a vital energy source! Not only that, the world currently lacks mana, and these Exspheres can provide us with the needed energy!"

"You should also think of our position as leaders of our countries! How are we going to explain this to the people? You don't even know anything about politics!"

"Not only that, think about it! You're going to destroy the Exspheres! Why is that any different from throwing away the lives that were sacrificed to make them! Destroying them is not going to bring those lives back nor set them free!"

"But-" Lloyd tried to argue back, but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and a soft whisper.

"I think we should conclude this meeting for now since we can't come to an agreement," a man wearing a black suit with long blue hair interrupted.

"Fine, Bryant. But don't expect us to agree to something as ridiculous as this so easily!"

"Regal..." Lloyd muttered as everyone else slowly started to exit the meeting room.

"I'm sorry, Lloyd, but that's just how it is," Regal replied in a gentle tone. "However, they do raise some valid points. You have to think about their position as leaders as well."

"Do you think I'm wrong?" Lloyd asked as he straightened his body. "Is it really so wrong of me to ask them of this?"

"I don't think so, but I think we can come up with a better solution than this. Perhaps we should speak to the others and hear what they think."

"Yeah..." Lloyd muttered as he turned around and started walking out of the room, with Regal close behind. The meeting was held in a large building at the west end of Meltokio. The building itself was rarely used. But when it was, it was normally used for important meetings like the one that just ended. However, the building was quite well maintained and still looked new, despite it's age.

Once outside, a blonde-haired girl dressed in white garbs came bounding over and greeted them. "Lloyd! Regal! How did it go?"

"Colette..." Lloyd started. However, rather than saying another word, he sighed instead.

"From the sounds of it, you most likely ran into some hurdles."

Three more figures slowly approached them. The one that spoke had silver-colored hair and wore orange-colored garbs. Another shorter figure who also had silver-colored hair and wearing light-blue clothes walked beside her. Finally, a third person wearing purple-colored clothes with black-grayish hair walked slightly behind them.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there, I had some things to take care of first back at Mizuho. I wish I could have been there to help."

"It's all right, Sheena," Lloyd replied, albeit in quite a soft tone. "I know you're quite busy back home due to the reunification of the world and all."

"Well, I didn't expect it to go smoothly anyway. After all, politics is way out of Lloyd's league."

The taller silver-haired woman beside the one that had spoken promptly smacked him on the head. "You could at least show some encouragement, Genis."

"Jeez, Sis! I only said the truth!" Genis argued as he rubbed his head with both his hands.

"Genis is right, Professor. I'm useless when it comes to things like these..."

"But still, what did the leaders say?" Sheena asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Most of the things they said were just disagreeing with the idea as a whole," Regal started as he recounted in his mind what happened during the meeting. "However, I took an interest in a couple of points mentioned."

"What are they?" Raine asked, curious.

"The part about the Exspheres being a vital energy source since the world currently still lacks mana."

"And the other?" Sheena asked this time.

"About how is destroying the Exspheres any different from throwing away the lives that were sacrificed to make them."

"That is true..." Colette said softly in a sad tone. "Destroying the Exspheres will not bring those lives back nor set them free... Their conscience has already been absorbed..."

Lloyd visibly flinched from that sentence. Clenching his fists tightly, the dual-swordsman slammed them at the pillar that was unfortunate enough to be near him. "Damn it! Then what am I supposed to do!"

"We'll need to think of a solution that all parties will agree to," Raine commented. "But what?"

Lloyd gritted his teeth. "If only Dad was here, perhaps he would have been able to think of something..."

"Hmm, Dad?" Genis asked, pretty surprised by what Lloyd just said. "I don't think Dirk would be of much help in this instance."

"I think he meant Kratos, Genis," Colette corrected.

"Asking Kratos would make sense," Raine replied, nodding in agreement. "His wisdom and experience would definitely benefit us if he was here. He had always been able to see everything as a whole and made quick and calculated decisions that had saved us many times before in the past."

"But it's just not possible..." Sheena finished, sighing.

"It doesn't look like we'll be able to think of a good solution anytime soon," Regal commented as he brushed his hair. "I better get going back to Altamira. Presea sends her regards. Remember to let me know if you think of a good idea."

"All right," Raine replied, nodding. "Have a safe trip."

Regal promptly left and the others were left there, trying to brainstorm for a solution to the Exsphere problem. However, that didn't prove to be helpful.

"So, what now?" Genis asked. "Maybe we should go back to our personal quests and think about it at the same time?"

"I'm thinking of checking on the World Tree," Lloyd replied, finally having calmed down a little and turned back to face the others. "Maybe talking to Martel can give me some ideas..."

"That might not be a bad idea," Raine commented, placing her hand on her chin as if in thought. "That place is calm and quiet. Not only that, speaking to a summon spirit might lead us to some solutions."

"Well, I guess that means Raine and I are coming with you, Lloyd," Genis concluded, crossing his arms.

"I'll go with you since it's on the way back to Mizuho," Sheena added.

"I'll come too, since I don't have anything much to do anyway," Colette nodded in agreement. "We can all think together."

"Thanks guys," Lloyd replied, grateful for having such a wonderful and supportive group of friends.

OoOoOoO

"Do you think Keele is going to come?" Yuan asked. The half-elf was sitting down on the grass and leaning against the fence that bordered Heimdall with his arms crossed behind his head and resting on them.

"Most likely," Kratos replied. The summoner was sitting on the fence beside Yuan with his arms gripping on it and supporting the weight of his body. He was gazing at the sky at the same time, watching the clouds passed by. "Considering the fact that the Elf Elder really wants Keele to come along, I wouldn't be surprised if he had intervened."

The sun had already risen quite high in the sky. It would only be a matter of hours before it would be noon. A gentle breeze was sweeping through the Elven Village of Heimdall, and several of its denizens were already up and about with their daily business. The two seraphim were getting the occasional glances from them, but they ignored them. The elves knew better than to try and mess with either of them.

Kratos leapt off the fence he was sitting on and started searching his pack for something. After pulling it out, the summoner sat down on the grass with his legs crossed beside Yuan.

"Hey, Yuan."

"Hmm?" Yuan responded as he shifted his arms from their current position and turned to look at Kratos, only to find the summoner holding a bangle as if trying to give it to him. It's gold in color with a blue-colored orb set in the middle of it. Several carvings which looked like they represented letters were etched on it. "What's this?"

"It's a bangle that allows someone to be the spirit link of a high summoner."

"And what does that do?"

"It strengthens the high summoner's summoning power," Kratos replied as he turned to look in front of him and taking a hold of the bangle in both of his hands, resting at the level of his waist. "And how much more powerful it will become depends on the bond between the high summoner and the one he or she has chosen."

"I've never heard you mentioning that before a few thousand years back," Yuan replied as he nodded, a gesture that he understood Kratos's explanation.

"At that time I was still trying to decide who I wanted to be my spirit link, since once I've made my decision, I can't change it. You had already left Polaris after hearing what happened to your father. When we were reunited, it had already slipped my mind. It also didn't occur to me at that time since I didn't really need that extra power. I only remembered about it because I don't know what we're going to be up against. Not only that, we'll be facing Maxwell, Origin and Sekundes in the future, and they are very powerful. So I thought having that extra boost would help us..."

"Say no more," Yuan replied as he leaned over and took the bracelet from Kratos's hands. Returning to his original position, the half-elf promptly slipped it onto his left wrist. "How's that?" Yuan asked as he turned to look over at Kratos.

"I'm not done talking," Kratos said matter-of-factly, not looking amused in the least.

"What? Isn't this what you wanted?" Yuan replied with an innocent look on his face. "Besides, who else would you choose? We're buddies after all. I'm sure it will boost the power of your summons to unbelievable levels!"

"Oh, I'm sure it will," Kratos replied sarcastically, crossing his arms in a huff.

"I'm sorry..." Yuan muttered after a few seconds of silence, turning away from Kratos. "Even though you didn't blame me, I still feel bad about your plans to stop Mithos and reunite the world. Even Aska got hurt, and I know how close you two are. That's why I had promised myself that I will do everything in my power to help you..."

"Hey, I was just joking," Kratos replied as he leaned closer and wrapped his left arm around Yuan's back, resting his wrist on the half-elf's left shoulder. "And please stop feeling guilty about the past. Everything worked out fine in the end."

"I..." Yuan started as he turned to look over at Kratos again, only to find the high summoner holding a dagger in his free hand. It had a gold-colored hilt and a silver-colored blade, with a blue-colored orb set in the middle of the hilt's cross-guard. Several carvings which looked like they represented letters were seen etched on the blade. "What..."

"We're not done yet," Kratos replied as he pointed to the bangle on Yuan's left wrist with the dagger in his right hand. "I still need to link it to my summon medium."

"Oh," Yuan replied as his mind registered what was happening. Raising his left hand, he brought it closer to where Kratos's dagger was. In response to Yuan's action, Kratos shifted the dagger in a position with its blade parallel to Yuan's hand with the orbs belonging to the two artifacts side by side to each other.

"Krauvando..." Kratos whispered. Just as the summoner said that, the orb embedded in the dagger's cross-guard started glowing a soft blue. "Bond with my chosen spirit link, let our power and heart be as one..." Kratos continued reciting as the orb embedded in the bangle on Yuan's left wrist also started glowing. "My chosen spirit link, Yuan Ka-Fai, let his power become my power, until the end of our time."

A few seconds after Kratos was done reciting the verse, the orbs belonging to both the dagger and bangle stopped glowing. After that was done, Kratos moved the dagger away, removed his left arm from Yuan's back and returned to his previous position. Then, opening the hand that was gripping his summon medium, Krauvando vanished in a ball of light. "It's done."

Yuan finally relaxed and leaned backwards a little. Closing his eyes, Yuan took in the gentle breeze and took a deep breath. He heard every single word Kratos had said when he was linking Krauvando, Kratos's summon medium and proof of a high summoner, to the bangle which he now wore on his left wrist. Yuan knew the weight of those words. That was the level of trust Kratos had for him. Of course, it was the same as the level of trust he had for Kratos.

Kratos quickly ran his hand through his hair to make it neater. He was getting tired of waiting for Keele to show up. While he was quite confident the elf would show up, there was still the possibility that he wouldn't. However, Keele could just be late. Not wanting to take any chances, Kratos placed both his hands on the ground, closed his eyes, and concentrated.

Yuan opened his eyes and sat up straight when his angelic hearing picked up some soft rustling of the grass at where Kratos was sitting. Turning, he noticed that the summoner had both his hands on the ground, his eyes were closed and was concentrating on something. It didn't take long for Yuan to figure out what Kratos was doing though. The summoner was sensing the aura around him, most likely using it to check up on what Keele was doing.

Yuan turned to stare at the sky while Kratos worked. Kratos was no ordinary aura user. While all pure-blood summoners of Polaris could sense and use aura to use aura magic, magic which called upon both aura and mana for attack and support, what each one of them could do was limited. But for Kratos, it was different. He had an extremely strong bond with the aura, so much that he could even recognise the distinct aura of any living thing, other than that of the summon spirits which any summoner of Polaris could differentiate, and also sense the feelings of any living thing from their aura. This also allowed him to be able to use every single aura magic in existence. When Kratos's father, Krulen Aurion, heard from Yuan how Kratos had cast Wind Aura so easily back when the two of them had first met at Gaoracchia Forest, in order to defeat a monster to save him, Krulen got worried. Kratos wasn't supposed to be able to use aura magic at such a young age. Not to mention that Krulen hadn't even started training Kratos on how to use aura magic yet. When questioned, Kratos had simply told him that he had seen Krulen use it a few times and merely copied him. Krulen had also thought it was strange that Kratos never got lost in Gaoracchia Forest, could locate practically any living thing that lived there easily, and was able to deal with Lionel and his group even when blinded. Kratos could also tell when his father was frustrated even though Krulen didn't show it, tell when someone was being sincere or lying to him.

Worried that something might be wrong with Kratos, Krulen had consulted with Origin on this. Origin merely laughed it off and told Krulen that Kratos merely had a very strong connection with the aura. This was extremely rare in a pure-blood summoner and the Summon Spirit of Creation had personally trained Kratos in the use of aura and aura magic so that he could maximize the power of this rare ability that he had. Kratos was known as the Aura Master to the summon spirits. Sereneus had also deduced this as the reason why Kratos's Crimson Aura power, linked to his angelic power, was so powerful that it took an equally powerful Key Crest to put it under control, so that Kratos wouldn't lose his soul to that power.

"Someone sure is in a panic," Kratos said finally. "Must be thinking that we might have left already."

Yuan, having heard that, turned from the sky back to looking at Kratos's direction. "Then that means he's coming?"

Kratos opened his eyes and nodded. "Yeah. I guess we'll have to wait a bit longer."

OoOoOoO

Keele was rushing about his house in a panic. Having decided that he would go with Kratos and Yuan on their journey, he was going to wake up earlier this morning to prepare, but had somehow overslept. By the time the elf woke up, it was already quite late in the morning. It was probably because Keele never had a reason to wake up early, so he wasn't very used to having to wake up in the morning. By the time the elf woke up on most days, it was already almost noon.

When Keele realised what time it was, he started rushing about his house gathering any other things he might need, other than clothes, footwear and his weapon. Keele didn't even have the time to think about having breakfast. The elf was worried that the two seraphim had already left but if he was quick enough, he could still catch up to them.

"Hey, relax, you don't have to rush. Kratos and Yuan haven't left yet."

Keele paused when he heard that. Wondering who that was, Keele looked around. The voice sounded familiar to him, although the elf couldn't quite remember where he had heard it, until he saw an orange-yellow-colored two-headed bird the size of a falcon perched on the head of the frame of his bed.

"Aska!" Keele exclaimed upon spotting the Summon Spirit of Light in his lesser form. "What are you..." Keele stopped short when his mind registered what Aska had just told him. "Kratos and Yuan haven't left yet?"

"Kratos knows you're coming, so he asked me to tell you that you don't have to rush since they're still waiting for you. He doesn't want you forgetting to pack anything that's important."

Keele gave a loud sigh of relief after hearing that. He hadn't missed the two seraphim yet. However, his mind suddenly wondered how did Kratos know he was coming, let alone knew what Keele was currently doing? "Aska..." Keele started as curiosity got the better of him. "How did Kratos know I was coming?"

"Kratos used the aura to check up on you."

"Seriously?" Keele exclaimed, more in awe rather than surprise. Yuan had told the elf about aura yesterday after all. "He can even see what I'm doing?"

"That's actually more of something only Kratos can do," Aska replied, cocking both his heads to the side, observing Keele at the same time. "Unlike other pure-blood summoners, Kratos has a very strong connection with the aura. This is an extremely rare ability for a pure-blood summoner. He can recognise the distinct aura of any living thing and even sense their feelings."

"Wait, sense the feelings of any living thing?" Keele asked in surprise. This was something new. "That means it includes people..."

"You can't lie to Kratos no matter how hard you try," Aska added as he straightened both his heads again, never taking his gaze away from Keele. "He will know if someone is lying, because their aura will give it away. It can be said that the aura of a person is also their heart."

"That means I should be careful around him..." Keele muttered silently.

"Why?" Aska asked as he continued to gaze at Keele while waiting for an answer. That sentence got the summon spirit curious. Was he still afraid of something?

"I mean, if he can tell what someone is feeling, then..."

"Kratos is not that insensitive," Aska replied with a frown. "He may be able to sense someone's true feelings, but he also knows what to say and when."

"But..."

"Don't worry about anything. Just trust Kratos. That's all you need to do."

"I'll try..." Keele replied, sounding somewhat hesitant, and yet knew that it needed to be done if he wanted to travel with the two seraphim. It won't be easy for him, but Keele had a feeling that he would enjoy being in their company.

"Looks like our conversation is over," Aska commented as he looked on at Keele, wondering if the elf was done thinking. "Have you made sure that you didn't forget to pack anything?"

Keele broke out of his thoughts when he heard what Aska said. "I was almost done packing before you came..." Keele replied as he scanned his room at the same time for anything he might have missed. Then his gaze fell upon the photo frame which contained a photo of his father and him when he was young, before Dynos was first taken away by the Desians. It was then he remembered something. Walking over to the lamp table where the photo frame rests, Keele reached for the top drawer and opened it. After rummaging through it for a while, Keele took a small box out. Opening the cover of the box, the elf turned it upside down, letting the item that was inside drop onto his other hand. "I almost forgot this."

Curious as to what was in Keele's hand, Aska hopped over to the lamp table to get a closer look. It was a Prismeros carved into a pendant, a bird that had become extinct during the Kharlan War, with a silver chain attached to it. The actual bird itself was beautiful and majestic, with wings and a long flowing tail which comprised of the seven colors of the rainbow. This bird was often hunted during that period for their rainbow-colored feathers which were made into accessories, items which were highly sought after by the nobility. Aska still remembered this angered Kratos more than anything and whenever the summoner came across someone hunting the Prismeros, he would give them hell.

The pendant was carved with such great care and detail, that it actually resembled the real bird itself. Even the colors were of the exact shade and detail. In fact, the skill and heart that went into it was so well done that it couldn't have been made by anyone else except the master blacksmith, the only one capable of such detail.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Keele asked when he noticed Aska looking at the object in his hand. "I've never seen this bird before though, not even in books."

"This is a Prismeros, a bird that had become extinct during the Kharlan War," Aska replied, still surprised by the detail put into the creation of this pendant. The pendant itself also looked like it was only made a few years ago, and no one knew the existence of the Prismeros as the only records of the extinct bird could only be found back at the library on Derris-Kharlan. Unless it was made by _him_. "This looks exactly like the real thing."

"This was how it looked like?"

"Yes, but no blacksmith should know how the Prismeros looked like. Do you have any idea who made it?"

"I have no idea," Keele replied, trying to think. "This was given to me by my father. He said he bought them both from some travelling swordsman or something, and that swordsman said that there is only one pair in existence. Father gave the other one to my brother."

"Only one pair in existence and your brother has the other one? Is that why you're bringing it with you?"

Keele nodded. "Since only a pair was ever made, if I keep this with me, then perhaps my brother will recognise it."

Aska nodded in understanding. "All right then. Have you gotten everything you need?"

"That should be everything," Keele replied as he walked over his bed where he had put his packed belongings. The elf secured the chain of the Prismeros pendant around his neck, and hid it behind his clothes. Taking his gloves, Keele quickly pulled them on, opening and closing both his hands to make sure they fitted well. Grabbing his bow and pack from his bed, Keele turned to the summon spirit and nodded. "Now I'm ready."

"Excellent," Aska replied as he spread his wings, as if stretching them. "Someone is getting tired of waiting."

OoOoOoO

"Argh! He's taking too long!" Yuan screamed, flinging his arms upwards towards the sky and bringing them back down again a few seconds later, more to let out his impatience than anything else. "Kratos, can't you hurry him up?"

Kratos didn't reply. He was not in the mood to entertain his best friend. Instead, he was busy preparing sandwiches so that they could just stop for a quick lunch later and cover more ground today due to the delay caused by waiting for Keele. Once he was done, the summoner packed everything into his lunch box.

Feeling ignored, Yuan complained in an indignant manner. "Kratos! Don't ignore me!"

"I'm not ignoring you, I'm ignoring what you're complaining about because you're being stupid," Kratos replied in a sarcastic manner, while stuffing his lunch box back into his pack. "Now stop complaining, he's going to be here soon."

"Finally!" Yuan grumbled loudly as he stood up, brushing his clothes and cloak with his hands to straighten them out. Yuan then turned back to face the surroundings in front of him when he was done. It was then the half-elf saw Keele running towards them. From this distance, Yuan could see that the elven archer was wearing a white-colored vest which was zipped up in the middle, lined with blue edges at the collar and the entire length of the zip, with a pair of blue pants and brown boots that went a little above his ankles. The elf had his pack, which was brown in color, strapped around his waist. On his arms were a pair of brown-colored archer-type gloves similar to what he was wearing prior to his return to Heimdall. Aska was riding on Keele's shoulder.

It didn't take very long for Keele to reach them. "I'm so sorry for delaying you two, I overslept," Keele said apologetically.

"You certainly took your time," Yuan muttered with his arms crossed, not exactly amused at the elf.

"It's a good thing Keele took his time, otherwise he might have forgotten something that was extremely important," Aska commented as he hopped over to Kratos's shoulder, who was now standing after having finished packing.

Yuan looked at Keele curiously. "What is it?"

"Um..." Keele started as he reached for the pendant behind his clothes. Grasping the chain, he pulled it out slowly. "This pendant."

When Yuan saw the pendant, he noticed that it was a bird that was carved into a pendant. However, it wasn't something that was commonly seen, that much Yuan knew. But the half-elf was sure he saw the bird before sometime during his long life, but couldn't quite remember what bird it was.

"That's a Prismeros," Kratos commented after having taken a quick glance at the pendant.

Now Yuan remembered where he had seen the bird. Although he pretty much wanted to smack himself. How could he forget about the rainbow-colored bird? It was one of the very few animals that actually didn't avoid Kratos. However, it had become extinct during the Kharlan War due to it being over hunted. But the memories which involved the bird were some of their more memorable ones.

"Kratos, did you make that?" Aska asked suddenly. He had already seen the pendant earlier, but the level of workmanship was too high to have been made by any mere blacksmith. Not only that, there was only one person the summon spirit knew that was capable of such work, and it was the high summoner that he was bonded with.

"Huh..." Kratos replied, turning to look at Aska. "I'm not sure, I don't exactly keep track of stuff that I make..."

"You're still randomly making accessories?" Yuan asked with his arms still crossed, looking at Kratos with an indignant look on his face.

Kratos smirked, turning to face Yuan. "Why, jealous again?"

"I hate you," Yuan grumbled, looking away with an annoyed huff. "For being able to cook, bake and craft accessories for income on top of mercenary work."

"Can't help it if you have no talent for anything else other than magitechnology and art," Kratos shrugged. Then he turned to acknowledge Aska's question again. "Why do you think I made that?"

"Well, the level of workmanship is too high to have been made by any mere blacksmith," Aska started, pointing one of his wings at it. "The detail on it is astounding, just like the real thing. Plus, it's a Prismeros. Who else could it be?"

"You haven't passed Sereneusﾒs knowledge to anyone else yet, right?" Yuan asked, uncrossing his arms and turning to gaze at Kratos.

"No. Sereneus specifically said that the knowledge and skills of the Master Blacksmith to be passed to any dwarves whom I decide to be worthy of it. So far, I haven't come across any, so I'm still the only one with that knowledge and skills."

"Wait a minute..." Keele started, having kept silent up until now, only listening to what was happening. Although he didn't know who Sereneus was, Keele could roughly guess from the two seraphim's conversation. "You're the Master Blacksmith?"

Kratos turned to acknowledge Keele's question. "That title can only be held by a dwarf. I do have the knowledge and skills of the Master Blacksmith, but I do not hold that title. The only reason I have the knowledge and skills was due to circumstances..."

"But still, you have the knowledge and skills! It's amazing! Not to mention you're also the Master Healer..."

"Don't forget Aura Master," Aska added.

"Aska..." Kratos muttered while rolling his eyes at the same time. "That is only known amongst the pure-blood summoners and summon spirits..."

"Well, whatever. You still haven't answered my question."

Kratos sighed. Being reminded of all these titles that were thrown on him annoyed the summoner. Kratos had never cared about titles. To him, they were meaningless. But being a high summoner was different. It was more than just a title. That granted him stronger summoning powers and bonds with summon spirits. Running his hand through his hair once, Kratos turned to Keele. "Let me see that pendant."

Obeying Kratos's request, Keele reached for the clasp of the chain which the pendant hung from and undid it. Still holding onto the two open ends of the chain, the elf placed the pendant on Kratos's open hand.

Taking the pendant closer for a better view, Kratos proceeded to inspect it. After looking at the carved Prismeros for a while, the summoner turned it over using his other hand and looked at it. After staring at it for a few seconds, Kratos found the letters 'KrA' carved at the back of it. The letters were very tiny and not easily noticeable unless one was looking carefully.

"I remember now. I did carve a Prismeros pendant. That was about fifteen years ago."

"You really made that? It's really beautiful," Keele commented, giving a genuine smile. He haven't had anything to smile about for a long time now.

"Well, it has my initials on it..." Kratos replied, musing at the same time. "But I remember I made a pair and sold them to an elf that was looking for special presents for his two kids."

Keele gave a soft gasp of surprise. "My father said he bought them from a travelling swordsman! That was you?"

"No wonder the elf looked a bit familiar..." Kratos muttered, thoughts wandering at the same time as he pieced everything together. "That means your brother has the other Prismeros pendant?"

Keele nodded in reply as Kratos returned the pendant to Keele. The elf then proceeded to clasp the chain around his neck again.

"This might make it a bit easier to find your brother," Kratos commented as he watched Keele hid the pendant behind his garbs.

Keele looked at Kratos wide-eyed. "Are you serious?"

"I should be able to sense the distinct aura of the ore used to make that pendant," Kratos replied, shrugging nonchalantly. "Coupled with its shape, I could probably sense it if someone was wearing it."

"Oh..."

"Wait a minute," Yuan interrupted. "Since when can you do that?"

"Well, only if Keele is near enough since it doesn't possess mana."

"Then Keele won't be able to wander too far from you when we're in towns or cities?"

"That seems to be the case, since I need to completely focus on sensing aura in order to sense that which are much further away."

"I haven't seen my brother for more than ten years and I have absolutely no idea how he looks like," Keele said. He's a bit more hopeful at actually finding his half-brother now. "Every little bit helps!"

"Then we should get going now," Kratos announced as he turned and started walking towards the exit of Heimdall. "We've been here long enough."

OoOoOoO

Lloyd was on deck staring at the water rushing past as the boat sailed towards its destination. Their group, currently consisting of himself, Colette, Genis, Raine and Sheena were currently en route to Port Tenue, which was located west of Sybak. From there, they would make their way to the ruins of the Tower of Salvation where the sprout of the new World Tree grew. The others were currently below deck while he had decided to come on deck to enjoy the sea breeze.

Lloyd sighed as he thought of the events that happened more than two months ago. It had started off as a simple journey of Colette, the Chosen of Sylvarant, and what she had to do to regenerate the world. It was supposed to be a simple journey of releasing four seals at four different locations on Sylvarant before the final seal at the Tower of Salvation and the possibility of dealing with the Desians. However, upon reaching the Tower of Salvation, they discovered the greatest secret about Cruxis and the world. It was then Lloyd resolved himself to save Colette from her fate. During the process, they had gained more allies and the simple Journey of World Regeneration had turned into a quest to reunite the two worlds.

However, they wouldn't have been able to succeed if it wasn't for some inside help they had from amongst the ranks of Cruxis, and one of them was Kratos Aurion, one of the Four Seraphim of Cruxis that accompanied them under the guise of a mercenary. He was the one that revealed the secret of Cruxis, and was also the one that actually saved them from death at the Tower of Salvation, which they had only found out much later.

However, things only got more complicated for Lloyd when Yuan Ka-Fai, another one of the Four Seraphim of Cruxis and also the leader of the Renegades, used him to threaten Kratos to release Origin's seal and revealed that he was Kratos's son. Lloyd was in denial at first, but when he and his companions discovered the seraph's real reason behind his betrayal at the Tower of Salvation was so that he could help them in his own way, Lloyd slowly accepted the truth and the two of them had even warmed up to each other.

And now, he missed him. Lloyd was unable to remember who his biological father was for fourteen years, and yet now, when he finally found out who it was, he missed him to the point of yearning for him, to be by his side making up for lost time. Lloyd was now regretting not trying harder to make Kratos stay. In reality, he knew Kratos had no reason to go to Derris-Kharlan, but he still let him go anyway. And now, he may never get to see him again.

Then he was suddenly seeing darkness, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Guess who?"

"Colette..." Lloyd sighed, letting the name trail off when he said it. He knew that voice all too well. After all, he's been hearing it for the last ten years.

"Oh, I'm sorry Lloyd," Colette apologised when she heard Lloyd's tone of voice. She then removed her hands from the dual swordsman's eyes and moved to stand beside him instead. "Did I disturb you?"

"It's okay. I was just thinking anyway."

"What are you thinking about?" Colette asked, gazing at Lloyd curiously. Not that Lloyd noticed though, since he was still staring out at the sea.

"I was thinking about the Journey of Regeneration and all the stuff that happened... And..."

"Kratos, right?"

Lloyd looked away from the sea. Was he that easy to read? Turning to Colette's direction, he noticed that the former Chosen of Sylvarant was looking at him. "Yeah... I miss him..."

"I understand how you feel, Lloyd," Colette replied as she shifted her hands behind her and smiled at her childhood friend. "I missed my parents too when I was undertaking the Journey of Regeneration. But the worse thing was I knew I won't be able to see them again. But with how everything turned out in the end, I was really happy that I got to see them again, and it was thanks to you and everyone, and Kratos too of course."

"He saved us so many times... If it wasn't for his interference, I don't think we would have made it. Even if he wasn't my real father, he was still one of us in the end."

"Do you regret not trying harder to convince him to stay with you?"

Lloyd knew that question was bound to be asked sooner or later. Just two months into his Exsphere quest and he was already having problems, particularly with the political leaders of Symphonia. Although, now that he thought about it, the leaders did point out some things that were true. But he had no idea what to do in this situation. Oh how he wished that his father was here to help him...

Lloyd returned to staring out at the sea, the cool sea breeze beating on his face. "Even if I regret it now, what's done is done. It's not going to change a thing."

"I guess you're right..." Colette muttered as she turned to face the sea, leaning against the side of the boat. Even if she regretted her decisions during the Journey of Regeneration, they cannot be undone. It was too late for regrets.

OoOoOoO

"I'm so sorry for hitting you with my magic!"

"And I've already told you that it's not your fault, Keele, so stop apologising! Besides, I have a personal healing item~"

"I am not your personal healing item!" Kratos growled. "Now stop fidgeting or I'm not going to heal your injuries since they're not even that serious in the first place."

"Yessir," Yuan replied to Kratos's command with a playful sounding tone in his voice.

Kratos ignored Yuan's antics and started focusing mana for a healing spell. They were fighting some monsters earlier and had stopped for a break so that Kratos could heal the half-elf. Yuan was accidentally hit by one of Keele's water spells which he had cast against one of the monsters that was weak to the water element. Of course, Yuan didn't know it was coming and thus was unable to dodge. Kratos didn't manage to warn him on time either.

"Yuan, how come you didn't dodge my spell?" Keele started as he watched the light from Kratos's healing magic getting rid of the wounds caused by his magic. He was really surprised when the half-elf didn't get out of his spell's range when he let it loose. "You should have sensed it coming?"

"I cannot sense water mana unless it's at very close range," Yuan replied flatly.

"Huh? What? Why? How is it possible?" Keele sputtered in surprise.

"Because I was born on the day of Volt."

"Huh? What is the day of Volt?"

"It's the day when Volt... Um... Uh... Err..." Then Yuan looked over at Kratos hopefully. "Kratos, help me out here?"

Kratos sighed. This was one of the few things that Yuan was taught when they were learning magic from his father. It affected him greatly so why didn't the half-elf remember what the day of Volt was? Finishing up with his healing spell, Kratos stood up. "It's the day many thousands of years ago when a high summoner that had a pact with Volt had saved the world from terrible continuous thunderstorms that went on for days. The thunderstorms had prevented people from leaving their homes or even tend to the crops and had to be stopped. This phenomenon was caused by an overflow of lightning mana gathered in the sky which was too much for Tonitrus and the monsters under him to control, so Maxwell commanded Volt to help stabilise that mana once a year on that very same day so that this will not happen again."

"Um yeah, what Kratos said," Yuan added when the summoner was done explaining.

"You obviously weren't paying attention when my dad was explaining that to us," Kratos crossed his arms in a huff.

"History is so boring..."

"But that doesn't explain to me why Yuan cannot sense water mana?"

"Anyone born on the day of Volt has an extremely strong affinity with the lightning element," Kratos continued. "However, this causes them to be weak against lightning's opposite element, which is water. They won't be able to use any water magic and cannot sense water mana, unless it's very close. But, any lightning magic they use will be super powerful and can sense lightning mana even if it was very far away."

"But how come this happens?" Keele asked, tilting his head in curiosity. "I understand Volt is doing all that lightning mana stabilising on that day, but how come it affects people born on that day?"

"Well," Kratos shrugged in reply. "I did ask Origin about this and his reply was that the excess lightning mana got absorbed by newborns on that day, thus creating a strong affinity with the lightning element. In fact, something similar also happens to those that are born on the day of the other Elemental Summon Spirits. The mana element of whichever Elemental Summon Spirit tends to be in excess on that day."

"Such things actually happen?" Keele was confused now, and he was scratching his head to show that. "How come they don't teach us elves these things?"

"Because this is summon spirit knowledge," Yuan replied, standing up and stretching. "Knowledge that only the pure-blood summoners of Polaris know of and were taught."

"Oh. But we elves are naturally born magic users. Something like that should be taught to us at least?"

"The elves originally had the knowledge," Kratos answered, shrugging. "I don't know why they stopped teaching them to the newer generation."

"I bet you also didn't know this," Yuan started, grinning widely. "It has a different effect on pure-blood summoners that are born on the day of an Elemental Summon Spirit."

"Oh? Really?" Keele replied with an extremely curious tone in his voice. "What is it?"

"The summoner will have two elemental affinities. Their natural elemental affinity and a second elemental affinity of whichever Elemental Summon Spirit the day represented."

"Wow... I didn't know there was such a thing..."

Kratos rolled his eyes. He knew where this was going. The summoner decided that it was more interesting to look at the sky. It hadn't been that long since the sun passed noon. They had just passed through Latheon Gorge before being attacked by a group of monsters. It wasn't hard to dispatch the monsters, but because Keele didn't know about Yuan's lack of awareness for water mana, the reason this happened in the first place.

Kratos winced as he felt both of Yuan's hands on his shoulders. He braced himself for what seemed to be the revelation of one of his greatest secrets of all time. Just like when said half-elf had revealed that he was Lloyd's biological father. Although this wasn't really some sort of life-changing secret like back then, Kratos didn't really like boasting about it, for the lack of a better word.

"Our Kratos here was born on the day of Sylph, and he has two elemental affinities because of that."

And thus it was revealed.

"That's actually pretty cool. So his second elemental affinity is wind, then what is his natural elemental affinity?"

Was Kratos dreaming or was that excitement in Keele's voice? Of course, before he could doubt himself, he sensed the flare of excitement with a mix of curiosity showing from the elf's aura. Then before Yuan could answer Keele's question, Kratos replied to it himself. "Light."

"Light and wind? Then you must be very good with magic of those two elements," Keele said, nodding in acknowledgement.

"Kratos's light and wind magic are really strong," Yuan replied, nodding in agreement. "You should also see the control he has over them." Then Yuan suddenly had a thought. "Since we're on the subject of elemental affinity, what's yours, Keele?"

"It's..." Keele started, slightly hesitant about giving his reply, but he knew it was necessary as it would help them in battle. "Ice..."

"Why do you sound so hesitant?" Yuan asked, turning away with his back to Kratos and crossed his arms. "That's not bad at all, it actually works to our advantage in terms of battle strength."

"Oh... Really...?"

"Of course!" Yuan exclaimed as he prepared to explain further. "Those with a natural affinity to the ice element can easily learn magic of any element. Of course ice and water magic are naturally stronger and they go with dark magic quite well and they can use fire magic easily though not as powerful. I can't use water magic, my ice and dark magic are mediocre at best, while Kratos can't use ice and dark magic at all, not counting spirit magic of course and his water magic is only mediocre. Kratos's fire magic is pretty powerful so we don't need to worry about you not being very good with fire magic."

"Um... Okay?" Keele replied, confused by the sudden overload of information.

"What's wrong?" Yuan observed Keele curiously. The elf's reply made him sound like he was confused. "Did I forget something?"

"You didn't forget anything, but rather you overloaded his brain with all that information," Kratos replied, and then let out a soft sigh.

"Huh?" Yuan questioned, looking over at Kratos confused.

"Never mind..." Kratos sighed in reply. Then he turned to Keele. "In short, you make up for what the two of us lack, which is offensive power for water, ice and dark elements. This is important since we are going up against all the summon spirits. Just remember not to use a water spell on the enemy when Yuan is nearby and warn him in advance if you do."

Keele nodded to show that he understood what Kratos had just said.

"And that concludes our random discussion that happened due to a monster attack just now," Yuan said, standing with his arms akimbo, looking slightly amused.

"Come on, let's eat something before we continue on," Kratos half-commanded half-sighing as he pulled out his lunch box from his pack which contained the sandwiches he had made a few hours earlier.

OoOoOoO

"So, where exactly are we going?"

Yuan turned to acknowledge Keele who had asked that question. The half-elf noted that Keele had kept up with their pace easily from his observation since they left Heimdall a few hours back. Yuan knew that Keele had trained himself to fight and use magic, and that he had an Exsphere. Both seraphim were well seasoned travellers, and for the elf who's travelling for the first time to be able to keep up with them easily must mean he had trained himself pretty well.

"I'm not sure," Yuan shrugged in reply as he turned back to look in the direction he's walking. "We don't know where the summon spirits are exactly, and only Kratos can sense them if any are nearby. So we're kind of just wandering around."

"I see..." Keele replied, turning to look ahead at the direction he's walking in. "But how did you two know where Undine was?"

"One of the Greater Summon Spirits let us in on her location. After that, we don't exactly know where to go. But that's not the biggest problem. It's possible that we may need to go back to where we've been to before since they won't stay at one place."

"Wait, the summon spirits move?"

"Well, just for the Elemental Summon Spirits. But with the threat to the world that only the summon spirits seem to know about, it will hang around long enough for us to get to it, so at least we won't have to worry about it suddenly going poof on us after we've found one."

"But that still doesn't change the fact that we don't know where to go and look, right?"

"Yeah," Yuan replied. He had gotten a bit bored since they had been doing nothing else but walk for the past few hours. He kind of wished a large group of monsters would just jump out and attacked them right now to kill his boredom at least. That was until he noticed Kratos, who was walking some distance ahead of them, stopping and turning to look at a particular direction.

It didn't take very long for both Yuan and Keele to catch up to where Kratos was currently at. By the time the two of them reached Kratos's location, the summoner was reaching into his pouch, taking something out.

"What's wrong?" Yuan asked. He then noticed what was the item Kratos had taken out. It was the summoner's navigator.

"I can sense Gnome's aura in that direction..." Kratos replied, trailing off as he flipped open his navigator and brought up a holographic projection of the world map. Pressing a button on it, a red dot with an arrow pointing in the direction he's facing appeared, showing his current location. "It seems the Toize Valley Mine is in that direction."

"A mine?" Keele asked, tilting his head curiously. "To mine for minerals?"

"It's actually an Exsphere mine owned by the Lezareno Company," Yuan replied.

"Wait a minute, you mine Exspheres?" Keele exclaimed in shock at the revelation.

"Well, yes. Exspheres are said to be the remnant power of the angels that had fallen during a great battle before the elves planted the Kharlan Tree on Symphonia. These remnants turned into dormant Exspheres and were scattered all over the world. Exspheres are awakened by feeding off a large mana source."

"Is that why when Exspheres evolve, they grant angelic powers?"

"It's very likely."

"And I thought you found history boring," Kratos smirked. "But here you are explaining something related to history."

"I-I choose what to remember, okay?" Yuan exclaimed indignantly. "Come on, didn't you say you can sense Gnome's aura in the direction of the Toize Valley Mine? Let's go!" With that, the half-elf marched forward.

"Well, you're the one that chose to have selective memory," Kratos shrugged, amused by his best friend's reaction. Still holding onto his navigator with the world map showing, Kratos started walking after his fellow seraph.

Keele giggled softly to himself before following the two seraphim. He was enjoying their company already. The way they knew each other so well and never found fault with each other and others, the way they could joke around and yet were serious when the situation demanded it. Being around them made him feel natural and at ease. Not to mention you can learn about all sorts of things you never knew about from them.

It didn't take long for the three of them to reach the entrance of the Toize Valley Mine. However, when the trio approached the entrance, they saw two people guarding the entrance to the mine. Their getup suggested that they were not soldiers, however, they did look like they could hold their own in battle. These two were likely hired mercenaries.

"Halt. No one is allowed to enter this place without the permission of the President of the Lezareno Company."

With just that sentence, nothing else more needed to be said between them and the guards, thus the trio retreated far enough so that the two hired guards were out of earshot.

"Well, should we go to Altamira?" Yuan asked, directing the question at Kratos.

"Gnome might not even be in Toize Valley Mine," Kratos replied, kneeling with his right knee on the ground and placing his right hand on the ground, with his left arm resting on his left thigh. "I'll need to confirm."

"Is the mine closed?" Keele asked Yuan as Kratos went about doing what he needed to do.

"Apparently," Yuan replied, shrugging. "I'm not surprised though, with Lloyd's Exsphere hunt and everything. The President of the Lezareno Company did support it after all."

"Lloyd? As in the current Eternal Swordsman?"

"You know about Lloyd?" Yuan asked, surprised. Though, should he be? After all, Keele was already alive and kicking when all the stuff about reuniting the worlds was happening.

"Well, I haven't actually seen him and his group before, just what the Elf Elder told me about him and his group trying to reunite the worlds and he was chosen to wield the Eternal Sword, and about the two of you helping them. I don't really know much else about them."

"Then you probably don't need to know anything about them right now," Yuan replied, nodding at Keele's explanation. "Explanations will be given when needed."

Keele nodded in understanding and decided not to say anything else. The worlds were reunited and everything was supposed to be fine, until he had met the two seraphim who were apparently sent on a mission by a summon spirit against an unknown enemy trying to destroy the world and the World Tree. What they needed to do right now was more important than information on people he had never met before.

"Gnome is inside Toize Valley Mine," Kratos finally declared as he stood up. "Looks like we'll have to pay the President of the Lezareno Company a visit."

"Then our next destination is..." Keele started.

"Altamira, where the Lezareno Company headquarters is located."

OoOoOoO

Altamira was home to the Lezareno Company run by the rich and influential Bryants. In fact, the entire city itself belonged to the Bryants. They were considered high ranking nobles of the Tethe'allan Kingdom and it had remained as such for the few centuries when Tethe'alla was flourishing before the worlds were reunited. Even though the worlds were now one again, this fact still remained true.

Altamira itself was a resort town residing right beside a beach. Even though with the geographical location of Altamira being different due to the reunification of the world, it remained situated beside a beach and thus it still functioned as a beach resort. There was also an amusement park which opened during the day and a casino that only opened at night to keep anyone that came for a holiday occupied. Overall, Altamira was a place of relaxation. Running Altamira as a resort town was only one of the few businesses that the Lezareno Company ran. They also marketed and sold certain types of products that were useful to people's everyday lives.

It was early evening when Kratos, Yuan and Keele reached Altamira. In order to reach the seaside resort town as quickly as possible, the two seraphim, with Yuan carrying Keele, flew across the land using their angelic powers since the distance from Toize Valley Mine and Altamira wasn't that far. They landed some distance away so as not to attract any attention in case anyone saw the two angels and walked the rest of the way to the resort town.

"Wow! This is amazing! This is how a resort town looks like?" Keele exclaimed as he looked all around, taking in everything he saw in detail, until he laid his eyes on something in the distance. "Is that an amusement park?"

"Keele, don't go running off by yourself!" Yuan scolded the excited elf. "We're here to meet the President of the Lezareno Company..."

Unfortunately, it seemed that Keele did not hear Yuan and ran in the direction to where the amusement park was.

"He really ran off..." Yuan muttered, annoyance clearly showing in his voice.

"You were like that too when you saw the amusement park for the first time," Kratos pointed out with a smirk on his face.

"What... I didn't... Wasn't excited..." Yuan sputtered. "Argh! Shouldn't we chase after him?" Without even waiting for Kratos to reply, the half-elf stormed off in the direction Keele went.

Kratos grinned to himself. He felt relaxed, despite having Symphonia's very survival in his hands. He knew the weight he carried on his shoulders was heavy, but didn't really care, or let it bother him too much. After all, he wasn't carrying that weight alone. That alone was enough for him. Besides, travelling like this together with his best friend felt like old times. While those memories have long passed, they weren't something he'd forget. And right now, he was forging new ones, and he'll be sure to remember them too. After all, these were precious memories he wouldn't trade for anything else in the world, be it good or bad.

OoOoOoO

Keele was dashing through the crowd towards the amusement park. While he had heard about it from his father, the elf hadn't actually seen one in person before, but he had an idea of how one looked like. Dynos told him that it was a place where kids and adults have fun and it was an exciting place to visit, and that he would bring him and his brother there when they got older. However, that never came to pass.

And now there was one right in front of him. Before his mind even completely registered anything, his body just started moving by itself. When Keele reached the entrance to the amusement park, he was a bit disappointed to find that they were closing and was told to come back tomorrow. But he may not even be here tomorrow anymore. Well, he would just have to come again when everything was over. After all, the amusement park wasn't going to run away. Saving the world was more important. Sighing, the elf turned around to find the two seraphim only to realise that they didn't run after him.

Keele paused for a moment trying to decide whether to go look for the two angels or just wait for them to find him. Before he could decide however, he noticed a girl of around twelve years old with pink hair tied up in pigtails wearing a blue-colored cap with a matching short-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts with boots that reached just above her ankles in three different shades of blue. She was handing out balloons to the children that passed by.

Curious as to why such a young girl was working a job, Keele approached her to get a closer look.

Of course, the pink-haired girl noticed the elf's approach and immediately turned, offering him a balloon. "Wahoo, you want a balloon?"

"Um, no thanks," Keele declined politely. "I was just wondering why is a child like you working a job..."

"I'm not a child, I'm already twenty-eight years old."

Keele was slightly taken aback by the answer. He was visibly shocked and wondered how was that possible and remembered about the two angels that were travelling with him. Did she have a Cruxis Crystal too? Or could it be something else?

"Finally found you, Keele!" A voice floated through the air yelling at him before Keele could react further to the pink-haired girl's revelation. Even though he hadn't known the owner of the voice for very long, the elf still recognised it nonetheless.

Keele turned around and came face to face with an angry looking Yuan. Kratos was trailing some distance behind the half-elf looking unconcerned. "I told you not to run off by yourself!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Keele exclaimed, apologising profusely. "I got excited..."

"Don't run off again," Yuan grumbled, crossing his arms in annoyance. "You're not exactly familiar with towns and the way things work. Don't want you getting lost or taken advantage of by some swindler."

Kratos watched the exchange between the elf and his best friend in amusement. It was like watching a parent scold their child. This actually looked kind of out of place since he was the one that actually had a child, not Yuan. Deciding not to comment, Kratos turned to observe his surroundings instead, noticing that the amusement park was in the process of closing for the day. However, that wasn't what caught his attention the most. It was a pink-haired girl giving out balloons to children that passed by. Her aura was extremely familiar...

"Do you guys know that girl?" Keele asked, pointing at the pink-haired girl that was giving out balloons, who coincidentally was the same person Kratos had his attention on. "She says she's twenty-eight years old but she looks to be only about twelve..."

That was when Kratos realised who that girl was. Grabbing Yuan and Keele by their wrists, the summoner unceremoniously dragged the both of them with him towards where the pink-haired girl was.

"Hey! Kratos, what are you doing?" Yuan exclaimed as he nearly tripped from the sudden movement. The half-elf was obviously not amused at Kratos's sudden action. As for Keele, the elf looked more surprised than annoyed.

"Presea Combatir!" Kratos called, ignoring Yuan's complaining. Just as he, with his best friend and new ally in tow, stopped when they were close enough, the pink-haired girl turned around in response to his call. "It _is_ you."

Presea turned around at the sound of her name being called and was quite surprised to see two familiar faces, faces she had never thought would see again. The faces of the two seraphim still looked the same, but the air around them felt different from before. Not only that, they were dressed differently from what she was used to seeing. Kratos was wearing a sky blue shirt and black pants with a dark blue trench coat over them. He also had a red scarf worn around his neck, brown-colored fingerless gloves with a silver-colored bangle on his right wrist and brown-colored boots that went halfway up his legs with two slightly darker brown straps around them near where the opening of the boots were on each side. His sword rested at where it was usually sheathed with his pack strapped around his waist.

As for Yuan, he still wore the same blue-colored cloak of the same shade as his hair. However, he now wore a black-colored vest which stopped just above his waist slipped over a red-colored long sleeved shirt with white-colored pants. To complete everything off, he had black-colored fingerless gloves on that reached halfway up his forearms over the sleeves of his shirt with a gold-colored bangle on his left wrist and boots similar to what Kratos wore, only that they were black instead of brown. He had his pack strapped around his waist.

Presea had never seen the person that was with the two seraphim before however. The design of the white-colored vest and blue pants that he wore suggested that he hailed from a village that was situated within a forest, while the gloves he wore very much told her that his main weapon was a bow. However, the most prominent thing about him was his ears were long and pointed, a trait that only pure-blood elves possessed. That alone was enough to tell Presea that this person that was with the two seraphim was an elf.

"What are you two doing here?" Presea asked as her initial surprise wore off. "Weren't you two on Derris-Kharlan?"

"Well, things happened and I kind of got sent on a mission by one of the Greater Summon Spirits," Kratos replied, shrugging at the same time.

"Why would a summon spirit be sending you on a mission?" Presea asked, tilting her head curiously. "Shouldn't they be looking for Lloyd or Sheena or something?"

"It's kind of complicated, and I'd rather not explain right now," Kratos sighed. "We're actually here to look for Regal for permission to enter Toize Valley Mine, and I'd prefer to explain with him around."

"Regal has gone for a political meeting at Meltokio and won't be back until late tomorrow morning."

"Oh. I guess we'll just have to hang around then. He does have responsibilities of his own after all..."

"Does that mean I can go to the amusement park for a while tomorrow?" Keele asked, clapping his hands together in excitement.

Yuan rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Is that the only thing you can think about?"

"Just until whoever you're looking for returns?"

"You're just like a kid."

"To my own defense, I am a kid in human years," Keele retorted, grinning smugly.

Kratos sighed. He could sense where this was going, given how well he knew what Yuan was like. Unable to decide whether to interrupt them or not, Kratos ran his hand through his hair in annoyance.

"Who's the elf?"

Kratos turned to look over at Presea who had asked the question. "He's Keele Silverlance, an elf who's travelling with us."

"How queer. This is the first time I've actually seen an elf outside of Heimdall."

"Well, he's special for an elf, kind of anyway."

"How so?"

"Those types with a complicated background I guess, just like all of us."

"I see," Presea replied, nodding in understanding.

"What about you? Are you helping Regal with his work or something?" Kratos asked suddenly. He was actually curious at what those of the world reunification group were doing currently. "I didn't really expect to see you here."

"The Lezareno Company is funding Altessa and I to make charms and accessories for sale. I also help Regal with some activities and projects that his company organises that help the needy."

"Sounds like everyone is doing something meaningful and useful for the world," Kratos muttered, letting his thoughts wander. "It makes me wonder what I've been doing all this while..."

"Then why don't you think about what you can do, or what you should do?"

"Wow, I think I'm getting pretty lame," Kratos said in a half-joking, half-dejected manner. "People much younger than myself is giving me advice. Lloyd is going to kill me if he hears me like this..."

"You're weird, able to joke about something like this," Presea commented. She suddenly realised that she didn't really know the seraph that well after all. During the short time they had fought together, Kratos had always appeared cold and didn't really talk much. The Kratos in front of her right now was somewhat different. He actually felt warmer and kinder.

Kratos brushed that comment off, pretending that he didn't hear it. "But it's something I need to think about at least."

"I'm glad to be of service," Presea replied, smiling a little. "I guess you guys will be staying in Altamira until Regal gets back. I'll get Regal's servant to arrange lodgings for you."

"That would be much appreciated," Kratos replied, thankful for the change of subject. Then he turned to look over at his two companions, one of them his best friend and the other a lost sheep he had unintentionally picked up. It seemed like they were still bickering. About what, Kratos had no idea since he hadn't been paying attention to them for the past few minutes. "We'll head over to the hotel after I get these two kids under my care to stop bickering over Origin knows what they're quarrelling about."

"It's fine, isn't it? After all, you're a father."

"That's true..."

OoOoOoO

"Wow! This is where we're going to be staying tonight?" Keele exclaimed in awe. He had never seen such a huge room before. In fact, just this one room alone was almost as large as his own house back in Heimdall. The elf found himself taking in every detail of the large room that they were going to be staying in overnight. There were four beds in the room, placed parallel to each other. Each bed had a lamp table beside it, separating them from each other. The windows of the room stretched from one end of the wall to the other end where the heads of the four beds leaned against. Two large cupboards leaned against another wall of the room near the beds. At another side of the room, sofas were arranged in a L-shape around a coffee table. Further down, Keele spied the door that led to the bathroom. There was also a pretty large fridge sitting in a corner near where the bathroom was. The walls themselves were lined with intricate and fancy designs which looked like it took a lot of time and care to create. Three chandeliers were seen hanging from the ceiling, each located at a different area of the room. It was kind of breathtaking, for him at least anyway.

"We were given a suite to stay in," Yuan said matter-of-factly. He had never liked fancy, high-class places that were meant for nobles to stay in. To him, it was just another form of discrimination, a distinction between the rich and the poor, and it didn't matter whether you were human or half-elf. "Being the guests of the President of Lezareno seemed to have earned us some untold privileges."

Yuan was expecting Kratos to say something. However, no words came. The summoner merely strode past straight to one of the beds, kicked his boots off and dropped himself on the bed, laying down on his side. Kratos didn't even bother to take off his scarf and trench coat first. Of course, having been best friends for so long, Yuan immediately knew that Kratos was in one of his 'thinking moods'.

"There're drinks in the fridge!"

Yuan almost cringed at Keele's sudden outburst. The elf seemed to have slipped in without him noticing, oblivious to what else was happening around him while Yuan had his attention on his best friend. Sighing in exasperation, Yuan closed the door to the room behind him and went to the bed beside the one Kratos had claimed and sat down on it, staring at the summoner who had his back to the bed the half-elf was sitting on. Yuan was somewhat expecting Kratos to say something at that point, but still no words came.

"Hey, Yuan," Keele asked. He was over by the sofas sipping on a bottle of juice he had liberated from the fridge. "Isn't it time for dinner? I'm hungry, having only had sandwiches earlier..."

"We can just order room service," Yuan replied, not quite willing to take his eyes off his best friend yet.

"Um, how do you do that?" Keele asked, unsure of what to do. He didn't know what room service was.

"I'll do it," Yuan sighed, as he stood up from the bed. "Kratos, want anything?"

"Anything will be fine. You know what to avoid..."

For some strange reason, Yuan felt kind of relieved hearing that. For one thing, it told him that Kratos was still paying attention to what was happening around him. But more importantly, it gave the half-elf an idea what his best friend was brooding over. Something depressing and yet serious at the same time. Something really important for him and he wasn't likely to be talking about it right now. But at the very least, Yuan knew that Kratos would be saying something eventually and until then, he would wait. After all, that was what best friends did. To lend a listening ear when needed, to give encouragement, to stand by each other no matter what happens, and to give them space when it was necessary.

After all, Kratos had the fate of the entire world on his shoulders, and Yuan would never let him bear it alone.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

This chapter was originally not supposed to happen this way or end here. But it was getting too long due to my random adding of things here and there to set up some things for the later chapters, so I decided to split it up. Not too much actual plot development in this chapter. There will be more Presea and Regal in the next chapter, and I'm not very good at writing about them, so I hope the next chapter won't end up being fail...

True fact, I almost typed chandelier as Chandelure. Pokemon corrupts your spelling! :'D


	6. Strategy against Gnome

**Dirge of Symphonia**

**Written by Rena Chan  
9208 words **

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

Sorry for taking so long to update, the main reason being the fact that I lost motivation to write the story. That was until Tales of Symphonia Chronicles got announced. Now that my motivation is back, I hope it won't take too long for the next chapter, unless I end up not being too sure how to continue. If this happens, I'll probably just skip around to other parts and write those first so that at least something gets done...

* * *

**Chapter 6 - Strategy against Gnome**

Regal stepped off the boat he was riding on after it had docked at Altamira. Being a noble and filthy rich does have its merits. It meant that he could have a private boat, which allowed him to get back to Altamira without having to go through normal passenger boats and ports. This actually saved him a lot of time, time which he needed for important projects as those helped the world and the less fortunate.

The boat itself docked at a hidden area that was at the basement of the main Lezareno building. Only the President and people with his permission were ever allowed to come to the basement. It was the same if anyone wanted to go to his private office.

"Welcome back, Master Regal. I trust your trip went well."

"I can hardly call it having gone well," Regal replied. His faithful and loyal butler and servant was there to greet him, dressed in his usual black tailcoat suit. "In the end, we didn't agree on anything."

"I see."

"So now we're trying to think of a solution that everyone can agree to," Regal sighed and brushed away a lock of hair that had fallen over his left eye.

"Oh yes, Master Regal, you have guests."

"Guests?" Regal raised an eyebrow. Who would be looking for him? Definitely not Lloyd and the others since they just met yesterday. Maybe the Tethe'allan nobility but he wasn't exactly all buddy-buddy with any of them, well except the former Chosen of Tethe'alla but he was no longer alive...

"Lady Presea had asked for lodgings to be arranged for them, and she mentioned that they are friends of yours, so I went ahead and let them stay in a suite."

"All right," Regal replied, nodding. "If there isn't anything else important you need to report, I'll go and look for them."

"I don't have anything else that requires your immediate attention to report, Master Regal. It would probably be best if you find your guests quickly as Lady Presea said to let you know as soon as you've returned."

"Thank you, George. I shall take my leave now then."

OoOoOoO

Regal strolled through the bustling streets of Altamira as the resort guests went about doing various activities and enjoying themselves with their families. He had went over to the hotel earlier to ask about which room George had assigned his mystery guests to only to find that they were not in the room. So now he was making his way to the amusement park where he knew Presea was working to find out who exactly his guests were.

It didn't take long for Regal to spot Presea once he reached the entrance to the amusement park. The axe-wielder was dressed in the clothes of Lezareno's mascot, Klonoa and handing out balloons to children. Regal wasted no time and quickly approached her.

"Presea!"

Presea immediately turned at the sound of her name being called. "Regal, you're back."

"I just reached Altamira not too long ago. George told me that I had guests. I checked the hotel room they were assigned to but they were not there."

"They went to the amusement park just as it opened. They're probably still in there."

"Then I guess we should go in and look for them."

"Yes," Presea nodded. "It sounded urgent. He did mention something about being sent on a mission by a summon spirit."

Regal raised an eyebrow. "Sent on a mission by a summon spirit? I don't suppose you can tell me who my guests are."

"I think it would be better for you to see who they are yourself. They're people I didn't really expect to see..."

"Well, all right, if you say so. Lead the way?"

Presea nodded in reply and started walking with Regal close behind. It didn't take them long to get into the amusement park, seeing as the employees recognised the President of the Lezareno Company and immediately let both him and Presea in. Once inside, they started checking the attractions with Presea trying to spot Regal's guests.

"I don't see them. The amusement park isn't even that crowded yet so I should have been able to spot them easily..."

"Presea, look at that," Regal commented. Presea turned to see what Regal was looking at to find him pointing in a particular direction. When Presea turned to check it out, she saw quite a large crowd had gathered at one place. For what, she wasn't exactly sure.

"Isn't that where the new battle simulator is?" Presea blinked in surprise. "But why is there a crowd?"

"I'm not sure. Shall we check it out?"

Presea nodded in reply. Only when they got closer did Regal and Presea realise what the crowd was looking at. They were spectators for whomever were fighting in the battle simulator right now. Pushing their way through the crowd, the both of them finally managed to make their way through the body of people into the control room.

It was there Presea finally spotted one of the people she was looking for. "Keele, you're here."

Keele turned around when he heard his name being called and spotted the pink-haired girl he saw briefly yesterday, only finding out later that she was someone the two seraphim knew, together with someone he didn't recognise. He had blue-colored hair with his fringe combed back and was wearing a black suit.

"Um..." Keele started, trying to remember the name of the pink-haired girl. "Presea Combatir, correct?"

Presea nodded. Then she pointed to the blue-haired man beside her. "He's Regal Bryant, the President of the Lezareno Company."

"Oh! You're the one that we're supposed to be meeting!" Keele exclaimed. For some reason, the elf suddenly felt nervous. He had never been in the presence of someone so important before.

"Presea, he's one of my guests?"

"Yes. He's Keele Silverlance, an elf from Heimdall."

"Hmm..." Regal hummed as he tapped a finger on his chin while scrutinising Keele, which only made the elf more nervous. "I don't believe I know you..."

"I'm sure this is the first time we've met," Keele laughed nervously.

"Regal..." Presea started in her usual monotonous tone of voice. "You do not know Keele, but you know your other two guests."

"Oh," Regal replied, realisation dawning upon him he had somehow forgotten that he had more than one guest. How, he had absolutely no idea. Perhaps his mind was preoccupied with other things that he wasn't completely aware of?

"Where are they?" Presea asked.

Keele turned around and pointed at the thing behind him in response. "They're inside this...whatever it is?"

"The battle simulator?" Regal confirmed and turned to look at the screen that was showing who were currently inside. Just as Presea mentioned, they were people he certainly didn't expect to see. Even though they were dressed differently from what he was used to, Regal still recognised them nonetheless.

"This is..." Presea trailed off. She was looking at the settings for the battle simulator. "They're fighting on the hardest difficulty setting..."

"You're not joking, are you?" Regal replied, sounding slightly shocked. Then he turned to look at the settings panel and confirmed for himself that Presea was serious. Then he turned back to look at the screen which was showing what was happening inside the battle simulator and was quite amazed at what he saw. Swordplay combined with magic were hitting their targets, taking down monster after monster without the two combatants even breaking a sweat or slowing down. They didn't even bother stopping to think about what the other was going to do. Their movements were completely synchronised, not hindering the other in the slightest.

"I have never seen such a synchronised fighting style before..." Apparently, Presea was thinking of the same thing he did. "They're bringing down the horde as if it was nothing."

And Regal agreed. They were completely dominating the battlefield. It was almost like watching a dance. A dance which they had practiced for a long time. At the rate they were going, clearing the hardest difficulty on the battle simulator was going to be a walk in the park.

"So this is the reason why a crowd had formed," Regal commented, still in awe of the battle unfolding before him. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait for them to be done."

OoOoOoO

Kratos back-stepped out of the way just as a rain of lighting bolts fell upon the group of virtual monsters that he was distracting. The lightning bolts killed off some of the weakened ones while blasting the rest away. While the monsters were created out of virtual reality, their strength and abilities were still exactly the same as the real thing and thus needed to be treated as such.

Although the reason why Yuan dragged him in here was still a mystery to the summoner. They had woken up early this morning so that Keele could spend a few hours at the amusement park while they were waiting for Regal to return. They went on a few rides before coming across the battle simulator. When Yuan saw it, the half-elf had promptly grabbed Kratos without warning and dragged him in here. But why was there a battle simulator here in the first place? And in an amusement park no less. As far as Kratos could remember, Yuan was the only person he knew that still had the know how to build one.

Wind mana gathered around Kratos just as more monsters rushed towards him. Directing the wind mana towards his sword, the swordsman started swinging it through the air with quick slashes in different directions, each swing generating fast and powerful blades of wind, slashing at his targets. "Void Sword!" Kratos's wind element strike arte tore through the monsters easily, killing some and severely injuring the rest.

"I call upon thee o' blessed bolts, bring divine retribution upon my foes! Divine Saber!"

Kratos back-stepped out of the way once again just as another round of Divine Saber, a lightning magic courtesy of Yuan, started wreaking its way through the remaining monsters. Continuous bolts of lightning fell upon a wide circular area where the monsters stood, slowly converging towards the centre of the circular area, ending with one final lightning bolt striking the centre, finishing them off.

"Feeling better?" Yuan asked just as the two of them stood back-to-back with their weapons at the ready, preparing for the next group of monsters that were just starting to spawn around them.

"Huh?" Kratos replied in surprise, unsure of what Yuan was trying to ask him, while firing off his Crescent Edge strike arte at a Fenrir that was leaping at him, the resulting force from the arte throwing the wolf monster against the wall.

"You were thinking," Yuan replied as he swung his dual-blade in a forward arc, sending out his Thunder Wave strike arte at the small group of monsters that were charging him. The wave of lightning swept through the monsters, effectively damaging and stunning them.

"Oh, that." Kratos knew what Yuan meant by that. He had been thinking about what Presea told him yesterday when they met, and the summoner still hadn't found an answer to it yet. But Kratos now understood why Yuan had dragged him in here. It was because Yuan knew by battling like this, just the two of them, helped to clear his head. Back in Polaris when they were younger, Kratos went into these 'thinking moods' every once in a while, mostly due to his aura training with Origin. The Summon Spirit of Creation would occasionally teach Kratos something that required him to think about things, and the summoner-in-training would drag Yuan with him to go and train on some monsters. They would fight groups of monsters until they were pretty tired before calling it quits. Of course unlike now, they would return back to his home with injuries of sorts and his dad would always shake his head at them.

"This thing is a bit too easy," Yuan muttered, sighing as he released an explosion of lightning at a group of monsters that were gathered in front of them, in what seemed to be an attempt at a coordinated attack at the two seraphim. The aftermath of Yuan's Thunder Explosion strike arte had killed some of the monsters while blasting the rest away. "The hardest difficulity doesn't feel hard at all."

"Or maybe we're just too strong for this," Kratos commented in reply, raising his left hand and fire mana started flaring to life around him on his command as the summoner started preparing a fire spell. His red scarf fluttered with the rising mana currents generated as fire mana started gathering around Kratos.

Yuan positioned himself in front of Kratos so as to distract the monsters and cover the summoner while he prepared his spell. The remaining monsters were all ice element and susceptible to the fire element, thus the best way to get rid of them was with Kratos's powerful fire magic. Using only quick slashes and thrusts with his dual-blade, Yuan easily kept the monsters at bay.

"O' raging conflagration, come forth and incinerate my foes! Spiral Flare!"

A tornado of flames started swirling around the remaining monsters, engulfing them in the wake of Kratos's fire spell. A few moments later, the tornado of flames erupted into a rain of fire upon the spell's targets. The aftermath of the spell completely eliminated the monsters, leaving nothing behind in its path.

"This is starting to become boring," Yuan commented as he relaxed his stance and pretended to yawn to emphasize on his boredom. "When is it going to end?"

**Final round commencing.**

"Well, I guess that answers your question," Kratos replied, placing his left hand over his mouth and gave a small chuckle.

"Here comes the final boss!" Yuan exclaimed jokingly, waiting in anticipation at what monster it would be. It finally revealed itself to be a large plant-type monster, standing about three times the height of a normal adult human. It was a brown in color, almost leafless tree with branches that mimicked hair and legs that allowed it to actually move, albeit really slowly. It was covered with vines that it could extend at will, which was its main mode of attack. "Oh. It's an Anima Treant..."

Kratos could sense Yuan's disappointment and the summoner could hardly blame him. While the Anima Treant is quite strong in its own right due to the versatility and reach of its vines despite being slow, it wasn't something they'd struggle against on its own as Kratos could easily manipulate the aura element of the field to their advantage, especially if there was nothing else that could also take advantage of it.

"Can we just get this over with, pretty please?" Yuan pleaded, which Kratos was pretty sure was directed at him.

"Well, you're the one who dragged me in here."

"You're the reason we're here in the first place," Yuan pouted as he swatted away a few vines that were coming at them with his dual-bladed polearm.

"I'll completely annihilate the Anima Treant to return the favour, is that satisfactory?" Kratos replied, shaking his head and sighing.

"That would be awesome," Yuan grinned and proceeded to engage the enemy properly. Swinging his weapon skillfully, Yuan made sure that none of the attacks from the Anima Treant broke through to even make it near Kratos.

After sheathing his sword, Kratos raised both his hands slightly away from his hips and closed his eyes in concentration. Two small, red-colored runic glyphs appeared at both palms of Kratos's hands. At this point, the summoner was surrounded by a red-colored light which had started surging forth from around him, forming a circle as if he was commanding the light. Then raising both his hands with his palms facing outwards, the two small glyphs merged into one larger glyph in front of him. "Power which lies at the root of all creation, hither to me Ignis, and grant us the infinite power of fire! Fire Aura!" The second Kratos had called out the name of the spell, the glyph in front of him briefly expanded and disappeared. In its place, a huge, red-colored runic glyph revealed itself on the ground as if some sort of power had awakened.

The instant the large, red-colored glyph became active, Yuan started advancing towards the Anima Treant. A stream of Fireball spells rushed past Yuan as the half-elf made his way towards his target. The stream of Fireball spells all struck the vines of the Anima Treant that were being swung in the direction of both seraphim, singeing them and causing the monster to reel its vines back in pain.

"Bursting heat! Photon Burst!" Kratos called a couple of seconds later after he stopped his Fireball spells when he saw that Yuan was within striking range. A huge orb of fire exploded on the monster's face making the Anima Treant step back in pain.

Yuan immediately grabbed the opportunity and started slashing away at the Anima Treant. The half-elf didn't use any artes, not that he needed to anyway since Kratos would take care of that. Kratos's fire spells were two times stronger than usual right now and between the both of them, his best friend's fire magic was much stronger anyway.

"Strike, raining flames! Burning Strike!"

Yuan back-stepped out of the way just as three fairly large fireballs fell out of the sky, all slamming onto the plant monster. As the Anima Treant tried to recover from the onslaught, Yuan forward-stepped back into attack range and started assaulting the monster, not giving it a chance to even recover. He knew the next spell Kratos was casting was going to be his last given the amount of fire mana being drawn in. He was preparing a pretty high level fire spell.

"O' blazing flames of destruction, strike forth with thy burning valor! Blazing Hearts!"

Two large fireballs of fiery energy appeared and flew towards their target. Yuan had already moved out of the way just before the spell was finished. The two fireballs converged together beneath the Anima Treant, creating a glyph of fire in the form of a cross, the extremely high heat generated from it completely annihilating the plant monster.

"And victory is ours!" Yuan cheered as he rested one end of his weapon on the floor, striking a victory pose.

"I thought you were bored of this," Kratos sighed and shook his head. Muttering a few words and with a wave of his hand, the red-colored glyph of aura and mana disappeared at the summoner's command.

Yuan rolled his eyes and gave an indignant huff. "Well, I just felt like striking a victory pose at the end of this long and boring battle. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not particularly."

"On the other hand, I'm more concerned about your 'thinking mood'," Yuan sighed as he recalled his dual-bladed polearm and started making his way to the exit.

"Mm hmm," was Kratos's reply as he followed behind Yuan towards the exit. What he had been contemplating about last night was currently at the back of his mind. While he still had no answer for it, it was pointless for him to continue pondering about it at the moment. He would just have to take it one step at a time and figure it out as he went along on his mission.

OoOoOoO

The two seraphim were immediately greeted with three familiar faces when they exited from the battle simulator. Keele was with them for the entire morning while they had seen Presea earlier when they entered the amusement park. As for the third person, he was the one they needed to meet, the President of the Lezareno Company, Regal Bryant. Other than Regal's fringe being combed back, the lack of handcuffs and the formal black suit he was wearing, Regal was pretty much the same as the two of them had remembered.

"That was amazing!" Keele exclaimed excitedly. "The two of you didn't even break a sweat!"

"I have to agree," Presea nodded in her usual monotonous tone. "You even had an audience watching you."

"Eh? An audience?" Kratos repeated, crossing his arms and sighing. "People sure love to watch these kind of things..."

"This battle simulator sucks anyway, the one I have on Derris-Kharlan is much harder than this," Yuan commented with pride evident in his voice. "We can still beat it though, but it provides a much better work out than this one."

"Please excuse Yuan," Kratos replied, rolling his eyes with his arms still crossed. "He's very proud of the machines he makes."

"I am not!" Yuan retorted indignantly. Kratos merely shrugged when felt Yuan's glare on him. When the half-elf realised that he wasn't going to get a reply from his best friend, he gave in. "Okay, maybe a little..."

"A little? You're under exaggerating things," Kratos retorted nonchalantly. "You would go around showing your machines off and brag about how awesome they are."

"Fine, you win," Yuan crossed his arms in a huff, but smiled slightly to himself. It was obvious from Kratos's reaction that he was no longer in his 'thinking mood', at least for now anyway. This meant that Yuan had achieved his goal when he decided to drag his best friend into the battle simulator, even if it sucked by his standards.

"So easily?" Kratos asked in surprise.

"If it meant you being back to normal," Yuan answered, shaking his head and shrugging at the same time. "I don't like it when you're thinking. It worries me."

"Fair enough..."

Regal observed the two seraphim with interest. While he had already noticed their different getup, which were different from what he was used to seeing them in, especially for Kratos who had a completely different style, their demeanour was different too. The lack of seriousness and tension in the air, and the way they had joked with each other, had completely surprised the Lezareno President. As if the display of battle prowess in the battle simulator wasn't enough to surprise him to the point of admiration, witnessing this had surprised him even more. It was as if the personalities which he had associated the two of them with was completely flipped.

"Presea told me that you two are looking for me," Regal finally spoke up when he was sure he wasn't interrupting anything.

"Oh!" Kratos exclaimed as he remembered why they were here in the first place before getting sidetracked. Then he turned and addressed Regal. "Can we speak somewhere that's more private?"

"We can talk at my office," Regal nodded in reply. He could understand why they would want to speak at a place that's more private. Presea had mentioned that he was sent on a mission by a summon spirit earlier and this meant that it was something serious. If any of the public heard them, it might cause a panic.

OoOoOoO

Regal's office was located at the top floor of the main Lezareno building. In fact, the top floor itself was Regal's office. There was a separate elevator that took people all the way there and that was the only way to get to the president's office, other than the emergency staircase.

The elevator door opened and the riders within were immediately greeted with the scene of regality. It wasn't really true royalty but more along the lines of nobility but it was still regal nonetheless, befitting for someone with that as a name. The entire floor was laid out with white-beige carpet and the room was painted in a similar color scheme. Intricate designs of waves and swirls were carved out on white marble, lining the corners of the walls of the entire room, with paintings of various sceneries hanging along the walls. Vases of plants were also placed along both sides of the walls.

Regal's desk was just across the elevator at the other end of the room. To right of the elevator was where the emergency staircase was located. There was another flight of stairs just to the right of Regal's desk which lead to the sky terrace of the main Lezareno building. A few bookshelves were seen behind the desk which were filled with books on various topics.

"Please take a seat, all of you," Regal prompted as he walked behind his desk and took his seat. It didn't take long for Kratos, Yuan, Keele and Presea to settle down on the chairs that were placed near his desk. "So, what do you need from me?"

"We need permission to enter the Toize Valley Mine," Kratos replied. He had his arms crossed and his left leg resting on his right thigh.

"The Toize Valley Mine..."

"You closed it, in order to help Lloyd with his Exsphere quest, right?" Yuan interrupted while leaning back a little on his chair, with his arms crossed at the back of his head.

"Well, yes," Regal nodded in reply. "But why do you need to go in there?"

"Because Gnome is in the Toize Valley Mine," Kratos replied, with a more serious tone in his voice. "And we need to find him."

"You mentioned that you were sent on a mission by a summon spirit," Presea spoke up this time. Her hands were resting on her thighs as she sat on her chair. "But you're not a summoner, are you?"

"Actually, he is," Regal replied in a calm manner, his crossed arms resting on his desk.

"Huh?" Presea exclaimed in a surprised, yet still monotonous tone.

"I was surprised when I found out too," Regal replied. Then he turned to acknowledge Kratos once more. "But I don't understand why you and not Sheena. She's a summoner too."

"Regal, you saw me summon Aska back at the Tower of Salvation when I saved you from Mithos's angel army, correct?" Kratos answered, waiting for Regal to nod in reply before continuing. "I'm sure you've noticed the difference in power between our summon."

"Now that you mentioned it, your summon pretty much took out almost all of those angels, and there were about twenty of them... But Sheena was only able to take out a few, about five at best with a summon..."

"That's quite a huge difference in power," Presea said, surprise clearly evident in her voice. "Why is that?"

"Because I'm a high summoner of the Summoner Clan," Kratos answered, sounding almost solemn.

"What's a high summoner?" Regal asked, rubbing his chin with his right thumb and index finger thoughtfully.

"A high summoner is a pure-blood summoner of the Summoner Clan who had passed a trial set by Origin and is granted the ability to fully bond with a summon spirit, making it possible to call forth their full power."

"So basically you have a much stronger bond with the summon spirits which allows you to call forth more of their power," Regal nodded in understanding.

"To put it simply, yes."

"What is this Summoner Clan?" Presea asked, curious. "I've never heard of the existence of a clan of summoners before."

"That's...the Summoner Clan was..." Kratos trailed off, his eyes no longer looking at either Regal or Presea, wandering off to look at his crossed arms instead.

Yuan, being Yuan, or rather being the good best friend that he is, caught Kratos's hesitant and sad tone, decided to continue in his stead. "The Summoner Clan is no longer in existence, it disappeared during the Kharlan War. There's no longer any pure-blood summoners left. While there are still summoners around, Kratos is pretty much the only pure-blood summoner and also the only high summoner due to circumstances you two know pretty well about us."

"I see," Presea replied, nodding in understanding. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise, there was no way you would have known," Kratos chided Presea, tone serious once again. "I just don't like to think about what happened if I can help it at all."

"So, any idea why you were sent on this mission by a summon spirit?" Regal asked, directing the conversation back on topic.

"I have no clue," Kratos replied, shaking his head. "The only thing we do know is that someone is trying to harm the World Tree, which in turn, harms Symphonia. None of the summon spirits I've met had given any more details. The summon spirit in question merely asked me to find all the other summon spirits and form pacts with them, all in preparation to form a pact with him."

"I see," Regal said in reply, crossing his arms and closing his eyes as if in thought. After pondering for a while, the Lezareno President opened his eyes once again. "Since this concerns the very life of Symphonia, I have no reason to refuse you entry into the Toize Valley Mine. However, I'd like to accompany you if possible."

As if on cue, Presea spoke up as well. "I'd like to come as well."

"Hmm..." Kratos hummed in consideration. "It wouldn't hurt to increase our numbers. Unlike with Sheena, the summon spirits will not hold back if I'm the pact-maker."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Presea asked, tilting her head curiously.

"The summon spirits will be much stronger than what you two have faced when you fought them with Sheena. Because I'm a high summoner, the summon spirits are not allowed to hold back when I seek pacts with them."

"You mean the summon spirits have been holding back when Sheena challenged them?" Regal repeated, clearly surprised by this revelation.

Kratos nodded in reply. "Unfortunately. However, it is not something they do on whim. A high summoner is capable of commanding that much more power than a normal summoner, thus they must make sure the high summoner is worthy of commanding that power by proving that they are capable of wielding it."

"I see," Regal nodded in understanding. "Well, I believe Presea and I need to prepare for the trip and you three need to pack up first. We'll meet at Altamira's entrance when we're ready, is that fine?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

OoOoOoO

It didn't take long for the three of them to get packed. There wasn't much to pack in the first place and they had already washed up and eaten earlier before going to the amusement park. Kratos, Yuan and Keele were at Altamira's entrance within the span of ten minutes, with neither Regal nor Presea in sight yet.

"I was so nervous back there! That was my first time meeting someone important and I'm glad that I didn't need to say anything!"

Yuan looked up from his computer after Keele finished his sentence, raising an eyebrow at the comment. "Why were you even feeling nervous? It's not as if Regal would punish you even if you had said something wrong."

"I'm not sure..." Keele muttered in reply with his eyes focused on the ground in front of him. "It's...just, I don't know...different from being around just the two you..."

"I don't think I'm going to comment on that," Yuan muttered in reply, rolling his eyes at the same time. Then he decided to divert his attention to Kratos, who was just beside the half-elf. The summoner was merely standing there with his eyes closed and arms crossed, slightly tilting his head left and right, alternating between the two directions with few seconds intervals, occasionally tapping the fingers of his right hand on his left upper arm and muttering to himself. Thanks to Yuan's angelic hearing, he could hear exactly what Kratos was saying.

"Hmm...this isn't going to work out too well...huh... What about Wind Aura...but instant Wind Blade spells are only going to work for smaller rocks...Air Thrust or Gale Slash needed for the larger ones...but they're not instant even with Wind Aura active...might not make it on time... Perhaps if we just focused on those that were immediately threatening us... But then...what if he decides to drop an entire avalanche of rocks on us...? That mystic arte would solve the problem... But..."

_"A mystic arte?"_ Yuan wondered. That certainly got his interest, since that also meant that he would need one for himself, in order to keep up with his best friend. It was kind of an unspoken rule between the two of them, that neither one of them must ever fall behind the other. He was due for another one anyway, since his one mystic arte was more like a super powered Indignation spell. Not that he didn't like it, powerful lightning magic was his specialty, but given how both he and Kratos normally fight, Yuan needed one that complemented that better. Something that hit his targets at a closer range. Kratos's Shining Bind mystic arte, while it covered a very wide area, was still considered a close range mystic arte as it only targeted the area around the summoner with him at the centre.

"Looks like you're all ready to go."

Yuan turned his attention away from Kratos to address the one that had spoken and saw that it was Regal and Presea. The half-elf observed that the two of them had a change of clothes. Presea was back in her usual dark gray lumberjack dress with her brown pouch strapped on her waist which had a short dagger hanging from the belt. Her arms were wearing the same light gray fingerless gloves where their openings reached halfway up her upper arm. Her knee-high boots were of the same color as her gloves.

As for Regal, he was wearing a black-colored vest over a white-colored collared short sleeve shirt with black pants. He had his steel plated greaves on which served as both his footwear and weapon. He had arm guards equipped which spanned from his wrists till halfway up his forearm which Yuan suspected were more for defensive purposes rather than offensive given how Regal usually fights.

"What's Kratos doing?" Regal asked after a few seconds of silence between them. Apparently the Lezareno President noticed the summoner's current posture.

"Oh, he's strategizing against Gnome," Yuan shrugged as he flipped his computer close.

"I see, it's good to be prepared."

"It's more than just being prepared," Yuan replied with a serious tone which was quite evident from his voice and expression. "He's a healer. In battle, one needs to be prepared for anything. And you listen to the healer if you want to survive."

"Point taken," Regal replied in understanding. "It's just I still can't get used to the fact that Kratos is a summoner and a healer. It never quite registered in my mind. Perhaps it's due to the fact we didn't fight together for very long."

"Does he know we're here?" Presea asked, looking at Kratos's direction curiously.

"Oh, I'm sure he does. Maybe he's just not done strategizing..." Yuan cut himself off just as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Apparently, a certain elf was trying to sneak up on Kratos from behind. "Keele, I suggest you stop-"

Yuan's warning was too late. Just as Keele was about to jump at Kratos, in one quick and fluid motion, the summoner took one step forward then sidestepped out of the way without even uncrossing his arms, causing the elf to fall over on his face.

"And what do you think you're trying to do?" Kratos finally spoke, flipping his eyes open with his arms still crossed, glaring at Keele who was pushing himself off the ground, slowly standing himself back up.

"Um... I'm not sure... I thought you weren't paying attention..."

"Don't ever try and sneak up on me again," Kratos grumbled, rolling his eyes at the same time.

"Not that anyone will ever succeed anyway," Yuan replied, shrugging at the same time. "Considering the fact you can fight blindfolded."

"Whatever," Kratos sighed, waving his hand as if to emphasize his nonchalant reply. "Let's get going."

"He didn't look over at us," Presea noted as Kratos walked off ahead of them with Keele hurrying off behind the summoner. "He did know that we're already here."

"I told you so," Yuan muttered in reply.

"But how?" Regal asked curiously. "Does that have anything to do with him being able to fight blindfolded?"

"By sensing the aura of living things and his surroundings."

"Wait... Aura exists?" Regal seemingly gasping in surprise.

"You've heard of it?" Yuan replied, tilting his head curiously.

"Raine came across some ruins recently and there were texts that mentioned it, but she couldn't figure out what it was as she wasn't able to find anymore information on it. She wasn't even sure if it existed because of that."

"It definitely exists, but I wouldn't be the person to ask about that. Only a pure-blood summoner can sense aura," Yuan shrugged in reply. "Anyway, we should go."

"All right," Regal nodded in reply. "Although Raine would be very interested in this information..."

OoOoOoO

It was nightfall by the time everyone finished eating. The Toize Valley Mine wasn't too far from where the group was but they had decided to stop earlier in favour of avoiding having to travel after dark and having camp set up before night fell. They would cover the remaining distance tomorrow morning instead as they only needed about another hour to do so.

"Thanks for the meal!" Keele exclaimed as he patted his stomach. "It was delicious! Mr. Regal, you're a really good cook!"

"Thank you for the compliment, but please, just call me Regal."

"But..."

"No buts," Regal replied in a reprimanding tone. "You are one of my companions, and I do not appreciate my companions calling me in such a formal manner."

"I..."

"It's best for you to just go with the flow," Yuan said, placing a hand on Keele's shoulder and nudging the elf slightly. "This is what being around true friends is like."

"I'm trying, but it's just..."

"Different when it's just me and Kratos?" Yuan cut in, almost frowning at Keele's behaviour. "Just be yourself, like how you are when it's just us. You don't need to act extra special towards any of us."

"I'm sorry," Keele replied, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I think I'd like to be alone for a while to think. I'll wash the dishes at the same time."

Yuan watched silently just as Keele gathered the dirty utensils and went off towards the stream that was nearby. As soon as Keele was out of earshot, Yuan turned towards Kratos. "Kratos..."

"Just leave him be," Kratos replied, not turning to face Yuan in the slightest. "Keele is just a little awkward right now being around actual friends. Give him time."

"Well, if you say so," Yuan shrugged.

"Kratos," Presea spoke up, shuffling slightly to get into a more comfortable position. "You mentioned yesterday Keele had a complicated background. What was it about?"

Kratos shook his head and sighed. "Well, long story short, his father was a victim of Kvar's Angelus Project experiment. The elves of Heimdall don't like him much because of that and the result is as you can see. He's using the Exsphere which was used on his father for the experiment. He's currently travelling with us to see if he can find his half-elf half-brother."

"I see..." Presea replied softly. "Another victim of Cruxis's machinations..."

"And it's our fault for not stopping it sooner," Kratos sighed in reply.

"Well," Regal continued, as if trying to break the sudden gloomy atmosphere. "It's all in the past now. We all had our share of problems but there's no point in dwelling on them. We should focus on now, isn't that right?"

"Yes," Kratos replied as he stretched his legs out in front of him a little from his current cross-legged sitting position. "That's why we need to discuss about our battle with Gnome."

"You were strategizing against Gnome earlier," Yuan commented, crossing his arms across his chest. "And you never do any strategizing for battles since it's hard to predict exactly what will happen. But why for Gnome?"

"First, Gnome is quite quirky. Second, the terrain is quite disadvantageous for us. Third, at this point in time, Keele is an easy target against strong opponents." Then Kratos shook his head and sighed. "To tell the truth, I was actually glad that you and Presea decided to come," the summoner added just as he made eye contact with Regal.

"Why is that?" Regal replied, furrowing his eyebrows curiously.

"It's pretty much because of Keele. Yuan and I can handle Gnome fine even with a terrain disadvantage, but not when we also need to look out Keele. With the two of you here, at the very least Yuan and I can concentrate on Gnome while the two of you take care of Keele while backing us up if the situation ever called for it."

"That sounds reasonable..." Regal hummed in thought.

"But why?" Presea asked, tilting her head in curiosity. "Is he weak? You said he uses an Exsphere, right?"

"Oh no," Kratos answered, shaking his head in reply. "He was able to hold his own against Undine. I'm sure someone who's capable of doing that against a summon spirit is quite strong. The problem is that he needs to learn to trust his companions in battle, and learn to work with them. Once he is able to do that, I'm sure he will be a very strong ally."

"And that isn't something that can be done overnight," Presea nodded in reply. "I understand the situation. We were all like that once."

"That is why with the two of you around, at least that burden on us will be lessened..." Kratos muttered as he crossed his arms, seemingly in thought.

"Well," Yuan piped up, attempting to direct the conversation back to its main focus. "You were considering using Wind Aura."

"Yeah, mainly to help us with the rocks. But it will be useless for Regal and Presea since they cannot use magic nor channel elemental mana into their attacks since they cannot manipulate mana."

"Well, the point of Wind Aura is to power up your wind spells, isn't it? Your wind magic is much stronger, faster and sharper than mine. You have a natural affinity for the wind element and absolute control over your spells. You can't activate two aura magic at once and we need that advantage more than anything else."

"Don't forget, I'm also a healer, and the only healer right now."

"Jeez, are you sure you're not thinking too hard about this? I'm sure I can cover for a while despite not having your finesse for wind magic. Besides, are you forgetting about Keele?"

"We don't know Keele's full capabilities yet. Not only that, with him the way he is right now, we can't rely on him. I may even have to pull him out of battle halfway. This isn't something as simple as just fighting monsters."

"Argh, now you're giving me a headache," Yuan complained as he clutched at his head as if to emphasize on what he just said. "Can you not think so hard about the battle?"

"Our lives may be in jeopardy if I don't at least think this through properly to handle the possible situations that may arise."

"Perhaps you need to stop worrying about things too much. You are, were, whichever it is, working on a mystic arte, and it's going to help with the battle, right? Everything will be fine-"

"No! It's not going to be fine!" Kratos snapped, clenching his fists and standing up at the same time. "It won't be fine...! That mystic arte..."

At that moment, Yuan knew something was definitely wrong, and that was the real reason Kratos was so insistent on a battle plan. It wasn't because of Gnome's temperament or the terrain. Those were easily taken care of. Also, Keele wasn't the only one he was concerned about. He was concerned for all of them, and it wasn't because of their battle prowess. If Yuan had to guess from his best friend's outburst, it was because of the mystic arte he was, no, _is_ working on. And it would definitely be something that would help them against Gnome, _if_ Kratos _could_ use it properly, whatever it's going to be.

Kratos knew that Yuan had figured out by now what was wrong just by looking at the expression on his best friend's face. He already knew right from the start that Yuan suspected that something was wrong, and that was the _real_ reason he wanted a battle plan against Gnome. Unclenching his fists, Kratos closed his eyes and calmed his thoughts. He needed to be alone to think. "I'm sorry. I'd like to be alone for a while."

Yuan gazed over at the direction Kratos was walking in. Somehow, Yuan felt compelled to find out what was wrong with the workings of the mystic arte and knew exactly who to ask about it.

"He sounded upset when you mentioned a mystic arte."

Yuan turned back at the direction where Regal and Presea were sitting. Sighing, the half-elf started to explain. "I've been trying to figure out the actual reason why Kratos wanted a battle plan for Gnome. And I think the reason is because he's unable to properly use a mystic arte he's been working on which would aid us against Gnome should the worst case scenario happen when we're fighting him."

"What is the worst case scenario?" Presea asked, tilting her head slightly.

"That would be Gnome dropping an entire avalanche of rocks on us, which he's very capable of doing considering the person that's challenging him."

"I see," Regal replied, nodding his head in agreement. "That would certainly be a problem. But I don't see why it's something that we would need, there should be other alternatives if that does happen?"

"Well..." Yuan started, pondering on the situation at the same time. "Certain wind spells can cut through rocks easily, but we're talking about an avalanche here. The main problem would be whether we can keep up with cutting through them. Not only that, Gnome has infinite mana, we don't...it's a very tricky situation really. I kind of understand why Kratos would be concerned and frustrated by it...and because he is a healer, he does tend to get a bit protective of others at the same time..."

"Seems like the situation isn't as simple as I would have thought," Regal replied, nodding in understanding of the situation. "Is there really no other solution?"

"I need to find out what is wrong with Kratos's mystic arte and why he can't use it. We still have enough time for him to figure out how to make it work."

"Overnight? Is it possible?"

"Of course," Yuan replied, grinning. "Don't underestimate us. We've been known to accomplish the impossible."

Regal was slightly taken aback by Yuan's reply and yet was in awe at the same time. He could feel the confidence radiating from those words. It felt like as if nothing in the world could stop the two seraphim as long as they were together...

"Aska!" Yuan called to the air just as Regal's thoughts returned to the subject at hand. As if on cue, the Summon Spirit of Light, albeit in the size of a normal bird, appeared before them at the spot where Kratos was sitting at earlier.

"I knew you would ask me about that," Aska chirped, stretching out both his wings and then folding them back again.

"I'm asking you cause I know that you'll have the answer," Yuan replied, crossing his arms in all seriousness. "So, what exactly is wrong with Kratos's mystic arte?"

"Well, to put it simply, it's pure wind," Aska replied, cocking his heads to the side in amusement.

"Pure wind as in nothing but wind? Concentrated wind given a form flying everywhere?"

"I guess your description pretty much describes the situation."

"Then that is the problem..." Yuan mused, muttering mainly to himself but it was still loud enough for everyone that were near him to hear. "He can't use it because he can't control it... And if he can't control it then it will end up striking things that he doesn't intend to target... While he has wind as a secondary elemental affinity, he's different from Uncle Krulen where wind is his natural elemental affinity thus he would not have a problem controlling the power of wind on the scale of a mystic arte... Kratos has full control over wind magic and wind element strike artes, but there is no way he can control just wind alone on the level of a mystic arte... Is there some way for him to put something in together with that wind so that he can control it...?"

Silence reigned over the camp for the next few minutes as Yuan was absorbed with his thoughts. It was this time Keele returned with the clean, but still wet utensils which he was done washing, only to walk into the scene of Kratos missing from their campsite, Yuan deep in thought about something, and Aska, Regal and Presea who were seemingly staring intently at Yuan.

"I'm done washing the dishes, where should I put them?" Keele asked, breaking the silence as the elf decided that it was better that he didn't ask what was happening, especially in a situation where Kratos was missing.

"I'll help set them over there to dry," Regal replied, acknowledging Keele's presence. Standing up, Regal walked over to where Keele was and took some of the utensils. Keele followed behind as Regal went over to an unoccupied area of their camp.

"Argh, I can't think of anything..." Yuan grumbled and growled at the same time.

"I'm not sure if this would help," Presea spoke up just as Yuan looked as if he was about to punch something. "But I've always noticed that sometimes Genis uses magic spells that contain two elemental properties..."

"Oh! That's it! We don't use spells that contain two elemental properties as it makes it more difficult to hit the weakness of our targets but in this case...!" Yuan practically screamed in excitement and turned hurriedly at Aska. "Where's Kratos? Tell him that I'm coming over to find him."

"Well, aren't you excited," Aska commented, sounding unimpressed. "You can find him if you head west."

"And I can't be excited?" Yuan scoffed, standing up at the same time. Then the half-elf turned to address Presea. "Don't wait up for us. Aska is watching the camp so don't worry about guard duty."

Presea watched on as Yuan went on his way in the direction west of their camp. "Sounds like he figured something out."

"Well of course," Aska shrugged, as best as a bird could shrug anyway. "Your hint made Yuan realise that it might be possible for Kratos to control the mystic arte if he combined wind with his natural elemental affinity."

"I see..."

"Well, the three of you should turn in early. Unlike Kratos and Yuan, you guys need more rest. It will be a tough battle tomorrow and you're all going to need all the strength you can get."

OoOoOoO

It didn't take long for Yuan to find Kratos, considering the fact that west of their camp was the direction of the sea. While Yuan didn't find Kratos by the sea, his best friend was still beside a body of water, a lake not too far from camp to be more precise.

Yuan approached the summoner with a slow pace, not wanting to distract Kratos from what he was doing. Gold-colored mana was flowing around Kratos, bathing him in a soft golden glow, with the ends of his scarf and trench coat dancing along with the moving mana currents. The color of the mana indicated that Kratos was summoning healing mana, and yet the healing spell the healer was forming was unfamiliar to Yuan.

"Gather, healing power of the fairies, give grace and grant us salvation! Fairy Circle!"

A circle of light appeared just as Kratos called out the spell's name. By this time, Yuan was already close enough to be within the spell's range so he found himself within the circle of light. Two golden-colored sprites created out of mana that resembled fairies flew around the perimeter of the circle and creating a veil of healing mana as they passed, flying higher and higher as they went until they were about a head higher than Kratos before both the mana fairies and the circle of light disappeared.

"New healing spell?"

"Master Boltzman devised the spell for me a long time ago, I just never had the power to cast it."

"It's that bangle on your right wrist isn't it?"

Kratos raised his right wrist, letting his gaze fall on the Fairy Tear. "The fairies gave this to me when I went to find them back at Ymir Forest. It seems that the power of the Fairy Tear is similar to that of a Unicorn Horn. But unlike a Unicorn Horn, only the one whom the fairies had granted the power to can use the Fairy Tear." Kratos then let his right arm fall back to the side. "Aska said you wanted to tell me something."

"I asked Aska about your mystic arte," Yuan deadpanned. "You couldn't find a way to control it."

"And I still can't think of a possible way to do it. You know I can't control the wind element on that large of a scale since it's not my natural elemental affinity..."

Yuan crossed his arms across his chest and grinned, looking smug at the same time. "What if you combined it with the light element? Would it be possible?"

Kratos turned to look at Yuan in astonishment. "Dual element combination?"

"Well of course. What else would it be when it comes to combining two elements to form a spell?"

"But it's meant for magic. Would it actually work with artes?" Kratos replied as he crossed his arms in thought.

"Well, it works with unison attacks doesn't it?"

"But a unison attack is performed by two people..." Kratos muttered in thought. "But unison attacks are either a combination of two artes, two magic spells or an arte with a magic spell and it can result in a dual element attack depending on what the two people use to form the attack. In theory it should work with artes performed by a single person... But the question is whether the method of performing it is the same or at least similar to magic, since the mechanics for unison attacks are different."

"I'll...let you figure that out since you're better with these stuff," Yuan uncrossed his arms and groaned at Kratos's _'wall of text'_.

"Well, why don't you run along now then," Kratos replied with an almost teasing tone in his voice.

"Don't you start," Yuan grumbled. "And what's with trying to leave me behind anyway?"

"I can't possibly be leaving you behind when I haven't even actually mastered it yet," Kratos replied with an innocent smile on his face.

"I'm not going to win this one, am I?"

"Nope, definitely not."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

So...the chapter was originally not supposed to end here. In fact my initial plan for the Toize Valley Mine wasn't going to be too long, just mainly the battle against Gnome, but I needed some character development for Keele in that part so I had to figure out something extra to add in for it to flow better into the future chapters. Now that I have, I've decided to just split it into two in favour of getting chapter 6 out since I haven't released anything for a long time (more than a year! Ouch...) and that the chapter would end up being...well, too long.

Now, before anyone comes screaming at me, Zelos is not dead. He's still alive, just that no one knows that he is, except for two certain seraphim who saved him back at the Tower of Salvation... I did mention something back at Chapter 4 if you've noticed. He will definitely appear later, just not so soon.


End file.
